Displaying items by tag: Germany

Germany: Bernd Scheifele has decided to step down as chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement in February 2020 after 15 years in the post. He will be succeeded by Dominik von Achten, the current deputy chairman. Scheifele will then be proposed for election as successor to the chairman of the supervisory board at the annual general meeting 2022.

In other changes to the group’s managing board, Lorenz Näger will remain chief financial officer (CFO) until May 2022 and then become deputy chairman of the managing board. Jon Morrish, previously the head of North America, will take on responsibility for Western and Southern Europe from Von Achten in 2020. Chris Ward, currently head of the Canada region, will be promoted to the managing board and take on responsibility for North America from Jon Morrish. Ernest Jelito, currently the head of HeidelbergCement’s activities in Poland, will be promoted to the managing board and take on responsibility for Northern and Eastern Europe-Central Asia from Albert Scheuer, who will leave the managing board in August 2019.

“The changes in 2020 are part of long-term succession planning for the Supervisory Board and Managing Board of HeidelbergCement,” said Fritz-Jürgen Heckmann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of HeidelbergCement AG. “Since assuming office in 2005, Dr Bernd Scheifele has decisively shaped the Group and successfully moved it into new dimensions both operationally and strategically. By introducing effective management processes and a lean organisation, he significantly increased the competitiveness of HeidelbergCement, propelling us to the forefront of the industry. He has also overseen expansion of our geographic footprint and the scope of our core activities and made HeidelbergCement the leading vertically integrated building materials company globally,” said Fritz-Jürgen Heckmann, chairman of the supervisory board of HeidelbergCement. He added that the changes in 2020 are part of long-term succession planning for the supervisory board and managing board of HeidelbergCement,”

Dominik von Achten has served as the deputy chairman of the managing board since 2015. He has been a member of the Managing Board since 2007 with responsibility for North America Group area and other topics. Currently, he is in charge of the Western and Southern Europe Group area and the Competence Center Materials. As Chief Digital Officer, he also oversees the digital transformation and digital ventures.

Lorenz Näger has been the CFO of HeidelbergCement since 2004. In addition, he is the head of finance, accounting, controlling, tax, treasury, insurances and risk management, information technology (IT) and shared service centre.

Ernest Jelito joined HeidelbergCement in 1982 and held various technical and management positions before taking over as Director Global HTC in 2009. Since 2015 he has worked as General Manager Poland.

Chris Ward has been with the group since 1996, holding various management positions in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas before taking on responsibility for the aggregates business in the Southeast region of the US. Currently, he is responsible for the Canada region in the North America Group area.

Germany: Poor weather in the US and lower asset sales than expected reduced HeidelbergCement’s earnings in 2018. Its operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 6.8% year-on-year Euro3.07bn in 2018 from Euro3.3bn in 2017. Its revenue rose by 4.7% to Euro18.1bn from Euro17.3bn. Cement sales volumes grew by 3.4% to 130Mt from 126Mt and ready-mix concrete volumes increased by 3.7% to 49Mm3 from 47.2Mm3.

“In operational terms, we were almost able to offset the impact of adverse weather conditions, particularly in the US, and the higher than expected cost inflation through growth in sales volumes and price increases,” said Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board. He added that the company achieved record sales volumes and revenues in 2018. He also said that its action plan is producing its first results, with a reduction in debt to below Euro8.4bn due to portfolio ‘optimisation’ and spending discipline.

By region the group reported that construction activity in North America was hampered by a long winter in the north and heavy rainfall, particularly in the north and southwest of the US. A ‘strong’ level of construction was noted in the group’s Northern and Eastern Europe-Central Asia Group area leading to revenue increases. In Asia-Pacific its operating EBITDA fell by 4.4% due in part to high competition in Indonesia and infrastructure project delays in Thailand. Cement sales volumes growth was reported in most counties in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Germany: ThyssenKrupp has announced the leadership structure of its two future companies: ThyssenKrupp Industrials and ThyssenKrupp Materials. At each company the number of board directorates will be reduced to three and central functions will be combined.

From 17 corporate and service functions at present, there will be 14 at ThyssenKrupp Industrials and 10 at ThyssenKrupp Materials. The current matrix structure will be dissolved. In the future there will be no regional structure besides the business areas at headquarters level. The tasks in the regions will be performed by the operating units or central functions. The shared service units will also be allocated according to business requirements and focused more closely.

“With the separation we will create strategic clarity and enable the businesses to develop more dynamically. The new leadership structures are key to this. The new set-up is tailored to business requirements and reflects the different market requirements. Both ThyssenKrupps will become leaner, faster and better,” said Guido Kerkhoff, chief executive officer (CEO) of ThyssenKrupp.

ThyssenKrupp Industrials will comprise the elevator, automotive, and plant engineering businesses, including manufacturing equipment for the cement sector. ThyssenKrupp Materials will operate in the materials sector.

ThyssenKrupp will take a final vote on the separation plans in January 2020. The composition of the two management teams will be decided in spring 2019. Details of the financial structure, brand identity and strategy of the two new companies will be announced in May 2019. Both companies are to commence operations at the start of the company’s next financial year on 1 October 2019.

Guinea: Germany’s Intercem has won an order to build a new 500t/day cement grinding plant for Les Cimenteries de la Basse-Guinée. Ground breaking is scheduled for the start of March 2019. Cement production is expected in mid-2020. No value for the contract has been disclosed.

The contract includes: a raw material storage with a capacity of 12,000t; a 70t/hr cement grinding plant with a vertical roller mill with four rollers and installed power of 1.25kW and a high efficiency separator; the transport to two 1000t cement silos; two truck loading stations for bulk cement; a packing plant with eight-spout rotary packer and two loading stations for bagged cement; the sub-systems; the electrical equipment; the complete engineering; the supervision of the erection; and the commissioning. All the equipment will be delivered from European manufacturers.

Germany: Claudius Peters’ revenue rose by 7.5% year-on-year to Euro103m in 2018 from Euro95.6m in 2017. Its orders in hand fell by 31% to Euro56.8m from Euro81.8m. The company said that it remained profitable despite low volumes, with only China exceeding expectations. It also reported that a number of major projects were delayed, mainly in Russia and one in Germany. Overall, company owner Langley Holdings said that despite falling revenue and profit, it had experienced a ‘satisfactory’ year following a record year in 2017.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem’s net sales rose by 2.4% year-on-year to Euro2.87bn in 2018 from Euro2.81bn in 2017. Its cement and clinker sales volumes increased by 4.3% to 27.9Mt from 26.8Mt. Ready-mix concrete sales fell by 3.6% to 11.8Mm³ from 12.3Mm³.

It attributed cement and clinker sales increase to acquisitions in Italy and Germany and good market conditions in the Czech Republic, Poland and Russia. However, poor weather hampered business in the US and a ‘strong’ decrease in business levels was reported in Ukraine. In Italy the cement producer benefited from its acquisition of Cementizillo in the second half of 2017. In Germany it purchased Seibel & Söhne and noted demand for oil well cements.

Germany/Russia: Intercem has been awarded new orders in Germany and Russia. In Russia it will supply a high-efficiency separator ICS 143, as well as the associated plant aggregates to a new cement plant. The high-efficiency separator, an in-house development manufactured in the company workshop, has a capacity of 115t/hr at 3000cm²/g acc. to Blaine and a total output of 258t/hr. The volume flow classifying air is 143.000m³/hr. The scope of supply also includes the engineering for the complete grinding plant as well as the supervision of the assembly and the commissioning of the components included in the delivery.

In Germany it will supply silos for Zementwek Lübeck’s grinding plant. The order includes a silo unit consisting of four steel silos with a capacity of 1200m³ each. In addition, the bulk loading and the complex cement conveying via air slides and bucket elevators leading over the complete area of the plant are part of the scope of supply. The scope of supply also includes the engineering and associated plant components, such as support structure, catwalks, filters, bucket elevators, return lines, electrical equipment, as well as building application and dispatch automation. Completion is scheduled for the third quarter of 2019.

The German engineering company has also won a contract to optimise a secondary fuel dosing system at a German cement plant.

Oman: Raysut Cement has signed an agreement with Ayoki Engineering for upgrading its clinker cooler line three at its Salalah plant. The local engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor will source the equipment from Germany’s IKN, according to the Muscat Daily newspaper.

The existing grate cooler at the unit will be replaced by a 4000t/day IKN Pendulum clinker cooler with a guaranteed capacity of 3500t/day clinker production. The project scope includes related civil works, supply and installation works of mechanical and electrical works. Sourcing and installation of the refractory will also be under the responsibility of Ayoki Engineering through IKN. Final installation of the project is planned for the fourth quarter of 2019.

US/Germany: LafargeHolcim has acquired ready-mix concrete businesses in the US and Germany. On 1 February 2019 it acquired Transit Mix Concrete, a supplier of building materials in Colorado and subsidiary of Continental Materials Corporation, for US$27m. As part of the transaction, LafargeHolcim takes ownership of Transit’s seven concrete plants and a sand quarry. Transit Mix has more than 180 employees.

In January 2019, LafargeHolcim acquired the precast and ready-mix concrete businesses of Alfons Greten Betonwerk in northern Germany. Greten operates one precast and one ready-mix concrete plant in the state of Lower Saxony. Greten employs around 100 people.

“In line with our Strategy 2022 – Building for Growth, these acquisitions will generate synergies with LafargeHolcim’s existing operations. With these further bolt-on acquisitions we are delivering on our commitment to accelerate growth in the ready-mix concrete and aggregates segments,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Jan Jenisch.

Germany: HeidelbergCement has been awarded ‘A-‘ in the climate change category of CDP’s Climate A List. It also received the same score in the water security category. The result marked it as the highest-scoring cement company on the list beating other major international producers such as LafargeHolcim, Cemex and CRH. Notably, these other cement companies each received ‘F’ for water security due to a lack of sufficient information available. CDP analyses data from over 6800 large companies around the world.

“This is a strong confirmation that we are on the right track with our Sustainability Commitments 2030. The excellent result encourages us to further reduce our ecological footprint across all business lines and on a global level,” said Bernd Scheifele, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement.