Nepal: Sajan Devkota has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Shivam Cements. He takes up the post on 15 March 2019, according to the Himalayan Times newspaper. Devkota holds 22 years of corporate experience with companies including Nestlé India, Nepal Lever, Varun Beverages, Nebico Biscuits and Chaudhary Group. He has been associated with Shivam Cements since 2015.

Germany: Schenck Process has appointed Keith Cochrane appointed as chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeded Andreas Evertz on 1 March 2019. Evertz, who joined the group in 2014, has left the company to pursue new career opportunities. Cochrane has served as the chairman of the advisory board of Schenck Process since late 2017. Before that, he was the CEO of the Weir Group between 2009 and 2016.

US: Metso Waste Recycling has appointed Lou Martins as its General Sales Manager in North America. His role will involve establishing the waste recycling organisation in North America to drive growth in the region for both static and mobile waste shredders. This includes hiring a distribution manager, establishing partner relations with plant builders and driving new business in North America.

Martins holds experience in the solid waste market, including six years with Van Dyk Recycling Solutions. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering as well as an MBA in Sales and Marketing.

Kenya: Cement production fell by 8.5% year-on-year to 5.64Mt in 2018 from 6.16Mt in 2017. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics also shows that consumption decreased by 5% to 5.49Mt from 5.79Mt. This follows drops in production and consumption since 2016. Local cement producers, including East African Portland Cement (EAPCC) and ARM Cement, have reported on-going financial difficulties since 2018.

UK: Wincanton has won a five-year deal with Aggregate Industries for the distribution of concrete products from a majority of its UK manufacturing sites. Under the new agreement, logistics firm Wincanton will operate a dedicated fleet of specialised vehicles, backed up by its national network, from 10 factories to customers across the country. This deal is in addition to two existing contracts, which cover distribution of bulk and packed cement from Aggregate Industries’ Cauldon works and the provision of Readymix assets.

"We have witnessed Wincanton’s ability to deliver on major national contracts at our Cauldon bulk operation. We have also seen how its commitment to continuous improvement can generate material benefits across the business. We are looking forward to the Wincanton team joining our concrete products operation," said Shaun Elliott, Head of Logistics, Concrete Products at Aggregate Industries.

Denmark: FLSmidth says it sold 31 new vertical roller mills (VRM) in 2018 for all grinding applications. The combined cement grinding capacity of its OK Mills VRM product line grew by over 38% year-on-year to 3145t/hr in 2018 from 2270t/hr in 2017. The average grinding capacity per sale of OK Mills for the cement industry grew by almost 10% to 225t/hr from 206t/hr.

The Danish equipment manufacturer installed its first OK Mill in 1982. To the end of 2018 it has sold 184 mills. It has supplied VRMs to 67 countries around the world since the OK Mill launched. Since the start of 2017 OK Mills have been sold in Indonesia, the Philippines, Algeria, Turkey, the UK, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, Peru, Cuba, India, Nepal, Algeria and Egypt. Shah Cement in Bangladesh inaugurated in 2018 an 81-6 OK Mill, the world’s largest vertical roller mill for cement grinding. It featuring six rollers and an 8.1m diameter grinding table.

Germany: The executive board of Humboldt Wedag (HWG), a subsidiary of KHD Humboldt Wedag International (KHD), is preparing to cut approximately 80 jobs. It has made this decision in response to a ‘difficult’ business environment in cement plant construction industry in the near future. It said that in light of this, ‘personnel capacities cannot be sufficiently utilised.’ The measures required to implement the reorganisation will be discussed with the works council soon.

Paraguay: Cementos Concepción plans to build a 1Mt/yr plant in Concepción at a cost of US$180m. The new company has been set up by businessman José Ortíz, according to the Hoy newspaper. The capital for the plant is being provided by the Cartes Group, the Jiménez Gaona Group and José Ortiz. The project is currently sourcing equipment for the plant and the plant is expected to be operational by 2021.

Guatemala: Cementos Progreso says that its new San Gabriel cement plant is currently being tested. Plant manager Heber Barrios Valenzuela said that this stage of its set-up began in 2018 and will continue throughout 2019, according to the Prensa Libre newspaper. The unit had an investment of US$500m. Work on the project started in 2008 and construction work began in 2013.

The new integrated cement plant will have a clinker production capacity of 4500t/day when fully operational. Key features include a 1.5km conveyor from the quarry to the plant with a capacity of 1000t/hr. After raw material grinding, pre-heating, the kiln and the cooler the production line has a 70,000t clinker silo. This is followed by two vertical cement grinding mills, each with a capacity of 220t/hr. For packaging and despatch the plant has four cement silos. Two of these have a capacity of 10,000t for bulk cement. The other two have a capacity of 5000t for bagged cement. The plant also uses a 0.15Mm³ rainwater reservoir to store water to cool machinery.

Algeria: LafargeHolcim Algeria has exported 10,000t of white cement to South Africa via the port of Oran to Cape Town. The consignment consists of its ‘Super White’ product from its Oggaz plant, according to the Algeria Press Service. The local subsidiary of LafargeHoclim operates two cement plants, at M’Sila and Oggaz respectively, and it runs a third plant at Biskra as a joint venture with Souakri Cilas Group.