Displaying items by tag: US

US: Vulcan Materials Company has announced four personnel changes as part its process to develop its new leadership team for the future. Danny R Shepherd, aged 61, has been appointed to the position of executive vice president and chief operating officer. He was formerly the executive vice president of construction materials.

Robert A Wason IV, aged 61 and senior vice president - general counsel, will retire from Vulcan at the end of October 2013. He will now assume the role of senior advisor to the executive management team until that time.

Michael R Mills, aged 52 currently senior vice president - east region, has been appointed to the position of senior vice president, general counsel. He will report to Donald M James, chairman and chief executive officer. Mills will also serve as the company's corporate compliance officer.

John R. McPherson, aged 44 and currently senior vice president - strategic planning and business development, has been appointed to the position of senior vice president - east region. He replaces Michael Mills and will report to Danny Shepherd in his new role as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Eagle Materials has picked up two cement plants in the US from Lafarge with a combined capacity of 1.6Mt/yr for US$446m. The deal also included six distribution terminals, two aggregates quarries, eight ready-mix concrete plants and a fly ash business.

Following our column in August 2012 following an acquisition in India we decided to ask a similar question: how much are American cement plants worth?

Eagle's acquisition now increases its presence in the Midwest and South Central regions of the US, giving it a rough line of plants across the country nearly connecting Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico. As shown in our industry report on the US between 2005 and 2011 cement consumption fell in both the states the plants are located in. Missouri's consumption fell by 45% from 2.82Mt to 1.56Mt, just above the US national average. By contrast Oklahoma's consumption only fell by 11%, from 1.6Mt to 1.43Mt, the fourth smallest decline in the country.

However, Eagle has demonstrated financial health in contrast to the US sector as a whole, reporting a 21% rise in total revenue in the quarter to 30 June 2012 and a 60% rise in operating earnings year-on-year in the quarter to 31 March 2012. The combined operations at the two plants generated about US$178m in revenue during the year ending in June 2012. By contrast Eagle Materials' revenue totalled US$529m during the same period. The plants' additional capacity will increase Eagle's total by about 60%.

Lafarge are still thinking big though, with the proviso that Eagle will supply certain Lafarge operations with cement for four to five years, as well as an agreement with a Lafarge affiliate to supply low-cost alternative fuels to the acquired operations. According to its 2011 annual report North America comprised 11% of Lafarge's cement sales. Lafarge's sales in the US remained flat in 2011. In that year the company's capacity was 12.8Mt with a 12% market share. This picture has started to change in 2012 with a reduced loss in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first quarter followed by volume and sales increases of above 10% in the second quarter.

Back in June 2011 Cementos Argos picked up two plants from Lafarge in Roberta, Alabama and Harlyville, South Carolina for US$760m with a combined capacity of 2.7Mt/yr. As with the Eagle deal the sale included a number of peripheral assets including a clinker mill, cement mixer lorries and a marine port.

Cementos Argos recently put the world average at US$250m/t when publicising the expansion of its Rioclaro plant. The European Cement Association reports the figure at being above US$200m/t on its website. In August 2012, at the time of the potential CRH acquisition in India, the cost of Indian cement production capacity was placed at US$110/t-US$120/t.

Perhaps the question we should ask is how much is a US cement plant worth when it used to belong to Lafarge. Both the Cementos Argos sale and the Eagle deal worked out at US$280/t including all the ancillaries. The actual question we should ask is why has Lafarge chosen these specific plants to sell to a competitor in the US market?

US/Switzerland: Holcim US has announced that its president and CEO, Bernard Terver, will join the executive committee of the company's parent Holcim Ltd.

As part of the 'Holcim Leadership Journey,' an initiative which streamlines and strengthens operations, Terver will also assume responsibility for the new group region of North America, comprising Holcim US, Holcim Canada, Aggregate Industries (US) and Aggregate Industries UK. Filiberto Ruiz will serve as deputy chief executive officer of Holcim (US) and Aggregate Industries US. Prior to his promotion, Ruiz was senior vice president of sales and marketing for Holcim US.

"I'm confident that these management changes will reinforce our commitment to customer excellence and to the development of our employees as they become the next generation of leaders," said Bernard Terver, president and CEO of Holcim US. "Filiberto's experience makes him an excellent choice for this new role and I am looking forward to collaborating as the company advances."

"I am honoured to have been appointed to lead US operations," said Filiberto Ruiz, deputy chief executive officer of Holcim (US) and Aggregate Industries US. "Holcim US and Aggregate Industries US are solid organisations and I look forward to continuing to build on the work that has taken place under Bernard's leadership."

Terver has been president and CEO of Holcim US since October 2008 and Aggregate Industries US since 2010. In the same year he also became area manager. He joined Holcim in 1994 when his employer CEDEST was acquired by Holcim France. In 1999, he became chief executive officer of Holcim Colombia and in 2003 was appointed area manager for the Andes nations, Central America and the Caribbean.

Ruiz began his career with the Holcim Group in 1986 as electrical supervisor with Holcim Apasco in Mexico, later becoming plant manager. In 1999 he became regional vice president for manufacturing at Holcim US. He returned to Holcim Apasco as cement operations, vice president and moved back to Holcim US in 2006 as senior vice president for manufacturing. He has been in his current role, senior vice president for sales and marketing, since 2010.

US: Holcim US has announced that Filiberto Ruiz will serve as its deputy chief executive officer of Holcim and Aggregate Industries US as part of its 'Leadership Journey.' Prior to his promotion, Ruiz was senior vice president, sales & marketing for Holcim US.

Ruiz began his career with the Holcim Group in 1986 as electrical supervisor with Holcim Apasco, Mexico, later becoming plant manager. In 1999, Filiberto became regional vice president, manufacturing for Holcim US. He returned to Holcim Apasco as cement operations, vice president, and moved back to Holcim US in 2006 as senior vice president, manufacturing. He has been in his current role, senior vice president, sales & marketing, since 2010.

Texas Industries (TXI) made the surprising move this week of appealing to the US authorities to investigate 'unfair' imports from Greece and the Republic of Korea. Of note was the accusation that imports from these countries had risen by 40% from 2009 to 2011, with a further rise over the first six months of 2012.

Given the distances involved and the rising optimism shown for the North American market in the latest financial results for the cement industry, targeting imports might at first seem odd. However looking at US Geological Survey (USGS) data shows that for January to May 2012 the top cement importers to the US, after Canada, were the Republic of Korea and Greece. Mexico, the USA's other land neighbour, could only manage fourth.

According to USGS data Texas was the leading cement-producing state in the US in 2011. In 2011 total imports of hydraulic cement and clinker from South Korea rose by 64% to 1.40Mt from 0.86Mt in 2009.

By customs districts Texas imported 0.99Mt in 2011 or 15% of the US total. Alarmingly though, Texas has already imported 0.77Mt from January to May 2012. If this rate continues for the rest of 2012 Texas could be facing a total imported figure of 1.84Mt, a rise of 85%!

Given that the Global Cement Directory puts Texan capacity at just under 14Mt/yr this might explain why one of the state's biggest producers has decided to take action. The problem of 'cheap' Greek imports looks likely to get worse as the economic troubles of the Eurozone drag on, especially if Greece exits the zone. If that happens, any Greek producer that can still afford to make cement may well be able to undercut the domestic production of any country willing to import it. TXI's move might be seen as a pre-emptive strike 'shot across the bows' to discourage increasing US demand for sucking in more imports, in order to shore-up demand for domestic production (and to firm up domestic pricing).

However, one place Greece or South Korea will have difficulty exporting their cement to is the moon.

Serious thought on creating cementituous materials on the moon dates back decades but last week NASA awarded US$135,000 to UC San Diego structural engineer Yu Qiao for research on the subject using materials that are readily available on the moon. Given that it currently costs from at least US$4m/t to put mass into low earth orbit, the lunar cement industry can rest easy from the threat of cheap Greek imports for the time being.

US: Jose Llontop has joined Giant Cement as its new CEO and president. He joins the company with 14 years of experience in the industry. Previously he has held senior level positions at Cemex, including being the regional president for a US$1bn sales operation for countries in Central Eastern Europe and being the president of Cemex Egypt.

"Llontop is a professional with a long and successful career in the cement industry, who has held positions of high responsibility in different countries and achieved excellent results," said Juan Bejar, chairman and CEO of Cementos Portland Valderrivas, the Spanish company that owns Giant.

Llontop received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, completed his MBA at Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA, and attended the Harvard Business School's General Manager Program in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Llontop served as chairman of the Cemex supervisory board in Austria and as vice chairman of the Cemex board in Egypt. Since 2010 Llontop was the president of Saudi Readymix, and the senior vice president of Building Materials for Alturki Group in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

US: Texas Industries (TXI) has announced the addition of Sean Foley (54), Bernard Lanigan (64) and Tom Ryan (47) to its board of directors. The appointments of the directors is effective as of 11 July 2012. All three are from outside of the cement industry.

"We are delighted to have found directors of the quality and experience of Sean, Bernie and Tom to join TXI," said Bob Rogers, chairman of TXI's board. "Given the improvement in construction activity, the near completion of additional cement capacity, the high quality of the company's assets and the markets we participate in, this should be an exciting time for them to be a part of TXI."

US: Henrik Wesseling, the plant manager at the Lehigh Cement Permanente Plant in Cupertino, California, is returning to Germany. Lehigh Cement announced that Wesseling will be leading the global fuel optimisation strategy for its parent company HeidelbergCement. His last day at the Lehigh facility will be on 26 April 2012.

Wesseling took on the plant manager role at Permanente in 2008. In his time there, he worked toward helping the company install emission-reducing technology to meet new environmental regulations. Over the past two years, he led an initiative to install an activated carbon injection system that aims to reduce mercury emissions by more than 90%.

"Henrik has performed admirably as plant manager and I commend him for all he has achieved," Kari Saragusa, Lehigh Western Regional President, said in a statement. Axel Conrads, Lehigh's region west vice president of cement operations, will lead plant operations on an interim basis while a new plant manager is sought. A new plant manager is expected to be in place within the coming months.

US: Doug Black, currently chief executive of CRH's Americas Materials Division, has been appointed to the newly created position of president and chief operating officer of Oldcastle Inc, the holding company for CRH's operations in the Americas. Black will report to Mark Towe, chief executive officer of Oldcastle. Aged 47, Black joined Oldcastle in 1995 and has held a series of key leadership positions at Oldcastle and in the Precast, Architectural Products (APG) and Materials operations.

CRH, the international building materials group, has announced a number of changes within its management team in the United States, effective from 20 February 2012. Commenting on these changes, Myles Lee, CRH chief executive said, "These appointments and subsequent follow-on changes strengthen our organisational structure and enhance our ability to execute our strategies and achieve long-term performance and growth."