Canada: Hervé Mallet, the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of McInnis Cement, is leaving the company. He has been in post since November 2016. He will be replaced, with immediate effect, by Jean Moreau, chief financial officer, who will assume the role of president and CEO on an interim basis

Moreau joined McInnis Cement in the spring of 2017. He holds experience in company, finance and operations management, and has held leadership positions within private and public entities in the finance and operations management sectors. McInnis Cement said that, “Moreau is familiar with McInnis and will ensure business continuity.”

Germany: Möllers Group has promoted Area Sales Manager Tobias Steffens to responsibility of the Asia Pacific Region. As a channel partner, he will intensify cooperation with the local sales partners and oversee the implementation of new products in the target markets.

Steffens, aged 39 years, studied mechanical engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden. He worked in a position of responsibility at Swisslog and Kardex for the regions of Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Australia and was more recently a Design & Engineering Manager for intralogistic systems and special applications.

Germany: Holcim Germany’s Beckum cement plant has gained a silver sustainability certificate from the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC). The company said that certificate is the highest that a cement plant can obtain. It certifies that the plant promotes transparency about the production process and supply chain as well as considering its impact upon the environment.

The company said that the unit is the first LafargeHolcim cement plant in the world to have CSC certification. It also plans to certify cement grinding plants and ready mix plants in Germany in the near future.

Pakisan: Fauji Cement has approved plans to set up a 12.5MW captive solar plant. The company operates a 3.4Mt/yr cement plant near to Attock in Punjab Province.

Zambia: ZCCM-Investment Holding, an investment company owned by the Zambian government, says that it will be the junior partner in a cement plant that it is planning to build in a joint venture with China Machinery Construction Group Limited (SinoConst). ZCCM will hold 35% of the joint venture, Central African Cement, and SinoConst will hold the remaining 65%. The US$680m project was announced in early 2018.

ZCCM also announced that its subsidiary, the Ndola Lime Company, was continuing to be in ‘distress.’ It said that its board was considering its options. The lime producer has reportedly suffered from liquidity problems and low production due to old equipment.

Indonesia: A barge delivering coal to Lafarge Indonesia’s cement plant at Lhoknga, Aceh has spilled around 7000t coal on a beach in Northern Sumatra. The barge was delivering coal to the plant at the end of July 2018 when it ran aground, acccording to the Antara News Agency. Lawyers representing local environmental groups have demanded that the subsidiary of LafargeHolcim be legally responsible for the cleanup operation.

Denmark: Equipment manufcaturer FLSmidth says that the cement market has remained ‘unchanged’ so far in 2018. It described the market for new cement capacity as ‘subdued’ but that opportunities for small and medium projects were available. In addition, the second quarter of 2018 showed a number of single equipment and upgrade project orders which the company has marked as a strategy area.

Order intake for its cement division fell by 42% year-on-year to Euro215m from Euro368m. However, revenue rose by 2% to Euro272m. Overall, the group’s order intake fell slightly to Euro1.35bn but revenue rose by 18% to Euro1.2bn.

"We saw the highest order intake in the Minerals division for several years, which shows that miners are starting to put action behind their investment plans. Most activity is related to single equipment and brownfield expansion. We benefit from our business model of full life-cycle offerings which enables us to support customers in their pursuit of productivity enhancements", said group chief executive officer (CEO) Thomas Schulz.

France: Vicat’s earnings rose in the first half of 2018 due to good performance in the US, Turkey, France and Kazakhstan. Its earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) increased by 21.3% year-on-year to Euro104m from Euro86m. Its sales revenue rose by 2.7% to Euro1.28bn from Euro1.25bn. The company’s cement production increased by 5.3% to 11.4Mt from 10.8Mt.

“Excluding currency movements, which have a particularly large negative impact this year, the croup achieved notable progress in Turkey, the US, France and Kazakhstan,” said the group’s chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Guy Sidos. He added that the group also benefitted from the start of work on new infrastructure projects in India.

However, the group reported a 21.9% fall in earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to Euro22.7m in India due to falling prices and mounting energy costs. In West Africa EBITDA declined by 14.5% to Euro22.2m due to falling prices and rising production costs. In Europe EBITDA fell by 16.9% to Euro35m due to contacting sales in Switzerland as well as issues Italy. Finally, EBITDA fell to a loss of Euro3.9m in Egypt due to falling sales in the wake of military intervention in the Sinai region.

Russia: The head of Job Safety, Industrial Safety & the Environment Department at Eurocement’s Nevyanskiy Tsementnik cement plant has been fined Euro42,000. The fine was issued by the local authorities for emissions of non-organic dust with high silicon content, according to URBC Daily News. The plant does not have an emissions permit.

India: FCI Aravali Gypsum and Minerals India Limited (FAGMIL) is preparing to build a 1000t/day white cement plant in Himachal Pradesh. The state-run company, under the control of the Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, has received a letter of intent from the state government of Himachal Pradesh granting it a mining lease to support building a white cement plant. This will be followed by the signing of a memorandum of understanding between FAGMIL and the state government.

The lease area is 108 hectares and it is located near Nohra Dhar Village, Tehsil Sangrah in the Sirmour District. Limestone from the site will be used to support a white cement plant. A pre-feasibility study has been completed by the National Council for Cement and Building Materials, Ballabgarh in Haryana and further planning activities are in progress.