Global Cement News
Search Cement News
Lafarge Cement appoints Stuart Hutchings as Cauldon plant manager
Written by Global Cement staff
04 March 2020
UK: Lafarge Cement has appointed Stuart Hutchings as the new plant manager of its Cauldon integrated cement plant in Staffordshire. He holds over 20 years of experience in the cement industry and is a qualified chemical engineer with a master’s degree in business.
The plant produces around 1Mt/yr of cement and employs around 150 staff. LafargeHolcim’s local subsidiary Aggregate Industries is currently planning a potential investment project to develop an additional chloride bypass and a new pre-processing plant for the storage of solid and liquid alternative fuels at the plant.
Davide Gambarotta appointed chief executive officer of Gambarotta Gschwendt
Written by Global Cement staff
04 March 2020
Italy: Gambarotta Gschwendt has appointed Davide Gambarotta as its chief executive officer (CEO) with immediate effect. He is also its sole owner designate. Gambarotta will maintain his position as CEO and sole director of MDG Handling Solutions.
Both companies will operate jointly, under the holding company Gambarotta Group. MDG Handling Solutions will offer complete engineering and procurement (EP) and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects. Gambarotta Gschwendt will design and produce equipment for bulk material handling.
James Bullock appointed vice president of Materials Handling Engineers Association
Written by Global Cement staff
04 March 2020
UK: The Materials Handling Engineers Association (MHEA) has appointed James Bullock as its vice-president. He has been a member of the MHEA’s executive committee for several years. He succeeds Linda White, who has held the post since late 2019. White is taking the post of secretariat from 1 March 2020.
CNBM resumes operations following coronavirus outbreak 04 March 2020
China: China National Building Material Group (CNBM) has started to resume its operations in various sectors following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Priority has been given to activities related to epidemic control, according to the China Daily newspaper. Its plans are aligned with instructions from the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council to ensure stable production and operations to back the country's economic development while preventing the virus from spreading further.
Zhou Yuxian, chairman of CNBM, said that the company is aiming at grasping ‘the first market share’ after the epidemic. The state-owned company intends to watch market demand and the reactions of companies from the upstream and downstream supply chain. CNBM also released guidelines of resuming work and epidemic prevention for different sectors earlier this month.
For its cement business, CNBM has urged the resumption of full production by subsidiaries related to life and medical waste handling. CNBM has asked its other subsidiaries to restart work gradually in different batches based on market demand.
India: Production capacity utilisation in the cement industry is expected to remain below 70% in the 2020 – 2021 financial year due to new plant projects in the next two years. Credit ratings agencies ICRA, India Ratings and Crisil all forecast relatively low demand for cement compared to a decade-high of 13% in the 2019 – 2020 period, according to the Press Trust of India. Cement production rose by 0.7% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2019 – 2020 period. However, production growth has hastened since then. The ratings agencies offer different outlooks on anticipated profits look forward.