People

China: Anhui Conch has nominated He Chengfa as the chair of its Supervisory Committee in anticipation of the retirement of Wu Xiaoming. His nomination will be submitted to the company’s shareholders at a future extraordinary general meeting. The Supervisory Committee is the monitoring body of the company, accountable to the shareholders at its general meetings.

He Chengfa, aged 57 years, is a senior engineer. He graduated from Wuhan Industrial University specialising in mechanical design and manufacturing and joined Anhui Conch in 1990. Notable positions he has held include that of deputy engineer-in-chief of the Ningguo cement plant, head of the equipment department and deputy general manager of the company. He is currently a deputy general manager, executive deputy officer of the technology centre of Anhui Conch Holdings Company, a director and executive deputy general manager of Santan (Anhui) Institute of Science and Technology and chair of the board of directors of Anhui Conch Construction Materials Design Institute.

Germany: Schade Lagertechnik appointed Jan Weckes as its managing director from the start of September 2023. Weckes previously worked as the managing director for IAS. Prior to this he had managerial sales and marketing roles with MBE Coal & Minerals Technology and worked for Outotec for a decade. He holds a PhD in metallurgy and materials engineering from RWTH Aachen University.

Germany: Heidelberg Materials has announced several senior-level changes to its corporate structure, with the establishment of some new roles. Jon Morrish, currently responsible for Western & Southern Europe, will take on responsibility for the newly established group area of Europe as of January 2024. This will follow the retirement of Ernest Jelito, currently responsible for Northern & Eastern Europe-Central Asia and the Competence Center Cement of Heidelberg Materials, at the end of December 2023.

Elsewhere, Roberto Callieri, General Manager Italy, will be promoted to the Heidelberg Materials Managing Board and take on responsibility for Asia as of January 2024. Incumbent Kevin Gluskie’s term will end at the end of January 2024. As part of the change, René Aldach, chief financial officer, will assume additional responsibility for Australia as of January 2024. Axel Conrads, currently President of the Midwest Region in the US, will be promoted to the Heidelberg Materials Managing Board, taking over the new role of chief technical officer as of February 2024.

Bangladesh: Md Alamgir Kabir, vice chair of Crown Cement, has been re-elected as president of the Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) for a two-year period until September 2025. Imran Karim, vice chair of Confidence Cement, and Abdul Khaleque Pervez, managing director of Diamond Cement, have also been re-elected as the first and second vice-presidents of the BCMA respectively. All three were re-appointed at the BCMA’s annual general meeting in Dhaka, held on 26 September 2023.

Speaking upon his reappointment as BCMA president, Kabir expressed his heartfelt thanks to all BCMA members for re-electing him as the president of BCMA. He said that the cement industry of Bangladesh was in a ‘deep crisis’ and that it must work with policy makers in order to flourish, as well as respond more effectively to the needs of consumers.

India: Anjani Portland Cement has appointed Rajesh Kumar Dhoot as its chief financial officer. He succeeds RS Ramanjaneyulu following his resignation. Dhoot is a chartered accountant with over 25 years of professional experience in the cement, sugar, pipe and textile sectors. He has worked in the cement industry for over 15 years, most recently with Chettinad Cement since 2014. Prior to this he held positions with UltraTech Cement from 2006 to 2014.