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Spain: The Spanish cement association (Oficemen) has elected Alan Svaiter as its president. He will take charge of various cross-sectoral initiatives aimed at helping the local cement industry to meet present and future challenges. These include recovering its higher activity levels and advancing its net zero strategy. He succeeds Cemex’s director general of strategic planning, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia, José Manuel Cascajero, in the role.

Svaiter has held the position of chief executive officer (CEO) of Votorantim Cimentos España since January 2018. Prior to that, he worked in Brazil as Votorantim Cimentos’ supply chain director from 2014 and the CEO of its ready-mix concrete subsidiary Engemix from 2010. Earlier, he held management roles at logistics groups VarigLog and Vale.

Finland: Finnsementti has appointed Tommy Ranta as its Operations & Commercial Director.

Ranta has been employed by CRH and its subsidiaries since 2007. He originally started working for Finnsementti in 2007 as an Operating Engineer. He later worked for Jura Cement in Switzerland and then returned to Finnsementti from 2012 in a variety roles, including plant manager of the Parainen cement plant, before eventually becoming the company’s Production Director. He holds an undergraduate degree in economics and a master’s degree in science, economics and business adminsitrtion from Åbo Akademi University in Turku.

Zimbabwe: Khayah Cement has appointed Arnold Zivanayi Chikazhe as its Company Secretary and Legal Advisor. He has acted as the company secretary of the company since May 2022, according to the Sunday News newspaper.

Chikazhe is a registered legal practitioner with over 15 years experience in various sectors, including retail, energy, mining, manufacturing, insurance, construction, health, public and non-governmental organisations both in Zimbabwe and the US. He holds legal qualifications from the University of Texas and the University of South Africa.

US: Fortera has appointed Kas Farsad as its Chief Strategy Officer.

Farsad was the lead inventor of Fortera’s reactive calcium carbonate cement when he worked as the R&D Manager for Calera Corporation in the late 2000s. He worked for PAX Scientific in the 2010s amongst other roles before returning to the renamed Fortera in 2019 as Director, Strategic Development.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from University of Michigan Ann Arbor, a master’s degree in Materials Science from San Jose State University and a master of business administration (MBA) from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.

South Africa: PPC has appointed Matias Cardarelli as its new chief executive officer for four years, with effect from 1 October 2023. He will replace Roland van Wijnen, whose contract began in 2019. Cardarelli has held various positions at private cement companies, including chair of Natal Portland Cement (NPC), part of InterCement Group. He also led the operational and financial turnaround of Amreyah Cement in Egypt and the expansion of Yguazú Cementos in Paraguay.