August 2025

Germany: Manfred Bracher has resigned from the executive management board of RKW and will leave the company at the end of June 2019 to pursue new professional opportunities. RKW’s chief executive officer (CEO) Harald Biederbick will take over his responsibilities until further notice.

Bracher started his professional career as a project leader at the Austria’s Lenzing Group, followed by 12 years at the Finnish packaging manufacturer Huhtamaki in various positions, including General Manager Films. From 2008 until 2013, he served as managing director at Clopay Europe. He has been a member of the RKW board since January 2014 and leads the Division Hygiene & Industrial. In addition to that, he is also responsible for group operational excellence and purchasing.

RKW Group manufactures film solutions including products for powdery goods and films and non-wovens for the construction sector.

Myanmar: Police say that protestors rioting about the Alpha Cement plant at Patheingyi, Kyaukse district in the Mandalay region in mid-May 2019 caused over US$40,000 worth of damage to the site. Residents armed with slings and rocks entered the site and set fire to buildings and vehicles, according to the Myanmar Times newspaper. A petrol bomb was also thrown at a building. The police are still looking for several people in relation to the incident.

Local residents were complaining about compensation related to the project as well as the use of Chinese nationals at the site. The plant, previously known as Myanmar Conch Cement, is a joint venture between Myanmar's Myint Investment Group and China's Anhui Conch. The unit is currently being upgraded to a production capacity of 5000t/day. Construction work started in late 2017. The unit is expected to be operational in 2021.

Kenya: The East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) plans to reduce its costs by making 220 workers redundant. It says it needs US$170m to return to profitability, according to the Business Daily newspaper. Other plans to reduce its debts include raising money through land sales and reducing its energy costs. It is considering selling over 2400 hectares of land in Athi River. It has already sold around 360 hectares to Kenya Railways for around US$50m.

The company currently has 821 contracted and permanent and pensionable employees. It intends to reduce its workforce by September 2019.

India: Penna Cement has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a US$220m initial public offering (IPO). The company intends to use the funds to pay off debts and for general corporate purposes, according to the Hindu newspaper. The cement producer operates four integrated plants and two grinding plants in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra that share a total production capacity of 10Mt/yr.

Colombia: Cementos Argos plans to sell its stake in Omya Andina for US$18.6m. It said it was focusing on the cement, concrete and aggregates business, according to the La República newspaper. Omya Andina is a subsidiary of Switzerland’s Omya that operates in Colombia. It produces calcium carbonate and speciality chemicals for a range of industries including construction and agriculture.

Dominican Republic: Alexander Medina Herasme, the director of the General Directorate of Mining, says that the country exported grey cement worth US$72.3m in 2018, according to the El Caribe newspaper. The nation has five integrated cement plants and two grinding plants.

US: CalPortland has been awarded a US$0.34m grant by the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD) as a partner in the replacement of a 1987 Trackmobile with a 2019 Rail King RK330 railcar mover at its Oro Grande cement plant in California. The new machine has been chosen to reduce its air emissions in accordance with the California Clean Air Act.

UK: Aggregate Industries has launched its Lafarge Endure SR, a CEM II blended cement product that uses fly ash. It says that the product has a lower embodied CO₂, has improved plastic and hardened properties when used in concrete and has enhanced suitability for all ground types. Lafarge Endure SR is resistant to sulphates, allowing contractors and suppliers to scope a wider variety of projects. It also uses 10% less water than CEM I products to reach a workable consistency and offers improved pumpability and mixing efficiency.

“As its name suggests, Lafarge Endure SR is designed to dramatically increase the longevity of the concrete it forms a part of. It is a great solution for contractors that want to reduce the environmental impact of their build while simultaneously improving its life span,” said Steve Curley, Commercial Director at Aggregate Industries.

Denmark: FLSmidth has completed its acquisition of IMP Automation Group following the approval by the competition authorities. The purchase was first announced in February 2019 when FLSmidth said it was adding the company as part to its portfolio of automated laboratory solutions for the mining industry. It said that the integration of IMP would enable FLSmidth to support the expanding market for automated laboratories, which has experienced recent growth due to a combination of high exploration activity and increased focus on productivity, automation and digitalisation.

"We also see great potential from the joining of our new colleagues to further enhance the development of our digital solutions for mining. For instance, data collected from online analysers and the laboratory can be used to optimise the entire flow sheet for mining operations. Using this data to augment our process optimisation initiatives is an exciting prospect," said Tina Knudsen, FLSmidth’s general manager for Sampling, Preparation and Analysis – Mining.

FLSmidth gains 130 IMP employees, including IMP's managing director, Boyne Hohenstein. The IMP business will be consolidated into FLSmidth from 1 June 2019 and the cost of the purchase will be paid out in the second quarter of 2019.

Armenia/Iran: The Armenian parliament has approved a tariff of US$29/t on imported cement from Iran. A previous attempt to pass the bill was blocked in April 2019, according to the Armenpress News Agency. During the recent vote construction workers demonstrated outside the parliament building warning that prices could price as a result of the new duty.