September 2025

South Africa: PPC has appointed the former Holcim Philippines chief operating officer and Eastern Europe regional CEO Roland Van Wijnen to the position of CEO. Van Wijnen, who holds a master’s degree from the University of Twente, will take over control of the company’s 6.2Mt/yr total integrated capacity across South Africa and Zimbabwe from Johannes Theodorus Claassen on 1 October 2019.

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim’s executive committee has taken on Magali Anderson in the newly-created role of Chief Sustainability Officer. Anderson is a mechanical engineer with extensive managerial and functional experience who joined LafargeHolcim in 2016 as its Head of Health and Safety. LafargeHolcim CEO Jan Jensich has stated that the appointment “will accelerate LafargeHolcim’s vision of running its operations with zero harm to people and the environment.”

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) has appointed Ernesto Julián Benítez Petters as president. In his inauguration speech, he expressed his intention to continue the work of his predecessor for the company as a pillar of the Paraguayan economy.

Thailand: Siam City cement has appointed Benjamin Birks to its board of directors. The appointment will take effect on 1 October 2019. Birks will also assume membership of the company’s Nomination and Compensation Committee (NCC).

Germany: Siemens has selected Roland Busch as its new CEO amidst a raft of appointments to senior positions aimed to ‘set a new direction’ for the company. Busch’s appointment emphasises “the importance of the industrial digitalisation of the company for the next generation,” said Supervisory Board Chairman Jim Hagemann Snabe.

India: Rajasthan-based Wonder Cement has announced that Sanjay Joshi will become its executive director. Joshi brings 17 years of marketing and operations experience to the RK Group subsidiary, whose integrated cement production capacity is 6.8Mt/yr.

Canada: Lafarge Canada has received a US$0.3m fine for failing as an employer to ensure that safety measures and procedures in the workplace were upheld. This follows the 2017 death of an employee who fell from a corroded catwalk at the company’s Beachville quarry.

South Africa: South Africa imported 0.1Mt of cement in July 2019, 293% more than in July 2018. The Algeria Press Service has reported the value of July 2019’s imports as US$4.85m. This represents a decrease from the June 2019 figure of US$6.73 of 28%. Vietnam continues to be the main contributor to the June and Julyimport figures, with Pakistan notably absent in both months. In the record seven months to 31 July 2019, South Africa imported 0.6Mt of cement at a total cost of US$29.6m.

Njobo Lekula, managing director of PPC, has stated that cement prices are ‘critically’ low for domestic producers, whose 18Mt/yr capacity faces a domestic demand of 13Mt/yr. In August 2019, South Africa’s major cement producers applied to South Africa’s International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) for a tightening of cement standards, which may take the form of a blanket tariff on imports.

Morocco: LafargeHolcim Morocco’s net profit in the first half of 2019 was Euro90.6m, representing an increase of 8.6% year-on-year from Euro83.5m in the six months to 30 June 2018. Its revenue held steady year-on-year with a 0.2% increase to Euro366m from Euro365m. It continues its ambitious renewables plan with an 80% increase in its use of wind power.

HeidelbergCement’s Moroccan subsidiary Ciments du Maroc improved its net profit restated for exceptional items by 3.4% year-on-year to Euro55.3m from Euro53.6m in the first half of 2018. Its 2019 first-half revenue improved by 5.0% to Euro191m from Euro183m in the same period of 2018, which it said was due to a record year-on-year increase in clinker sales of 55% due to increased exports and operational improvements.

Egypt: South Valley Cement has reported losses of US$6.19m in the first half of 2019, down by 587% from a US$1.27m profit in the same period of 2018.