Germany/Italy: Stephan Oehme has been appointed as the Global Sales Director of both FLSmidth Pfister and FLSmidth Ventomatic. Oehme, aged 50 years, is an industry expert with more than 20 years experience in the respective business fields. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering and has worked previously as a Director Sales and Technology. In order to support the combined sales force of both companies he will increase the cooperation between both sales teams.

FLSmidth Pfister develops high-end gravimetric dosing systems for the cement and minerals plants. FLSmidth Ventomatic specialises in packaging and delivering solutions for the same sector. Both companies are subsidiaries of Denmark’s FLSmidth.

We said to expect more consolidation in Italy. Well, today it happened. Last time Global Cement Weekly covered the country, in June 2017, it reported upon the Buzzi Unicem deal to buy Cementizillo. Today, HeidelbergCement announced that it is going to buy Cementir Italia from Cementir Holding for Euro315m.

Our first reaction is that the deal seems cheap. The agreement covers five integrated cement plants and two cement grinding plants with a total capacity of 5.5Mt/yr, as well as the network of terminals and concrete plants. HeidelbergCement is buying all of this for Euro57/t. This suggests a downward trend given that Buzzi Unicem paid Euro80/t for the Cementizillo units in mid-2017. Although, Cementir only paid Euro38/t when it purchased Sacci in mid-2016.

Cementir’s acquisition of Compagnie des Ciments Belges (CCB) boosted its sales revenue, volume and operating profit in 2016 and in the first half of 2017. However these figures suffered on a like-for-like basis due to falling revenue in Turkey and Malaysia. Overall revenue rose in Italy for the company in 2016 due to a growing ready mix concrete business. However, with this removed, its sales revenue would have fallen by 14% year-on-year due to a 13.5% decrease in the sales volumes of cement.

Cementir Holding chief executive officer (CEO) Francesco Caltagirone has framed the sale of Cementir Italia in terms of improved financial leverage. He’s placed it at close to 0.5x by the end of 2018. This, he says, will allow the group to “…take the opportunities arising in the future, as it has happened during the last twelve months.” By this he likely means the purchase of CCB. Given the low cost for what Cementir picked up the bankrupt Sacci, it makes one wonder whether their plan all along was to leave Italy and they just happened to pick up a bargain along the way.

Meanwhile, HeidelbergCement has framed its acquisition in terms of preparing its presence in the Italian market for the future when the recovery kicks in. The usual talk about synergies is also there and Italian workers for both Italcementi and Cementir Italia will be wondering what this means for their jobs. Given that the group’s overall sales have struggled to grow so far in 2017, the company may be telling the truth when it says it’s banking on the medium to long term in Italy. After all, in its half-year report for 2017, it described the Italian economy as subdued and reported cement sales volumes as ‘stable.’

Once the deal completes, Cementir Holding will be an Italian-based cement company without any production facilities in Italy. Unless the group is planning to re-enter its home market at a later date, it does suggest a certain lack of confidence at home. Let’s see if HeidelbergCement has the nerve to stick it out.

US: CTLGroup has appointed Brian Schudiske as its president and chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds Timothy Tonyan.

Schudiske has held leadership roles over the last 20 years, in areas such as manufacturing, supply chain, operations, and engineering management. He holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Environmental & Public Health from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Prior to joining CTLGroup, Schudiske was General Manager, US Materials and Manufacturing, for SGS North America where he provided operational and sales leadership for the Metallurgical Engineering and Testing business in the US and was credited for delivering new business as a result of innovative growth and sales strategies.

Tonyan will remain as chief operating officer and continue to focus his efforts on firm-wide business and client development, project management and leadership promotion.

CTLGroup is a subsidiary of the Portland Cement Association. It operates as a consulting and testing company for a variety of markets including the cement industry.

UK: Mike Pearce has been appointed as the chief executive for the Southern division of Breedon Group. He is currently managing director of the Aggregates division of Aggregate Industries Limited (AI). Pearce will take up the position in 2018, joining Breedon’s executive committee and succeeding Tim Hall, who will be leaving the company at the end of September 2017. In the interim, the Southern division will be led by Colin Parke, who currently runs Breedon Southern’s Central region, reporting to group chief executive Pat Ward.

Pearce was previously the commercial director for AI, coordinating strategic activities across its business divisions, whilse also managing the contracting division. He has been a member of AI’s executive committee since 2009, during which time he has been variously responsible for AI’s building products, ready-mixed concrete and asphalt businesses.

Weather always seems like an excuse in cement company financial reports. It seems that it can pop up when a producer has nothing else to blame for its poor performance. Except, of course, when there has actually been some bad weather. With this in mind the weather is likely to have a rather larger presence in the next set of results for companies in the Caribbean and Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. The storm tore across the region in a rough north-western bearing, reaching Category Five hurricane status on the Saffir–Simpson scale with sustained winds of over 252km/hr. It caused loss of life and mass destruction to property and infrastructure.

Bottom lines flutter in the wind as construction markets upend in the wake of the weather. Yet cement companies have a more direct relationship with extreme weather events. Cement plants themselves are large industrial sites with staff and equipment that are vulnerable to the elements. This is covered by a company’s resilience strategy but it can include things like reducing non-essential staff levels, shutting down production and securing a site. Cemex USA, for example, set up telephone lines to help employees in need of assistance for both Hurricane Harvey in Texas in late August 2017 and Irma this week. Titan America shut down its Florida operations over the weekend ahead of Irma and then started reopening them on 12 September 2017.

To look at one facet of preparing a cement plant shutting a clinker kiln down with adequate notice, like for a maintenance period, is one thing. Yet doing it in an emergency is an entirely different proposition as the kiln generally needs time to cool down. Global Cement discovered what happens when a kiln is simply stopped when it visited the Cemex South Ferriby plant in the UK. The plant suffered a complete electrical outage following a tidal surge at the site. A 22m-long section of one of the kiln shells had to be replaced because it had been distorted by the sudden cooling.

Secondly, the concrete that cement is used to make plays a key role in what the Portland Cement Association (PCA) and others call resilient construction. Typically concrete structures and buildings survive extreme weather events better than other weaker building materials. Although a wide range of other factors such as building design, foundations and roofing construction are also important. Notably, much of the footage that emerged during the storm in Florida was shot from concrete buildings. As Cary Cohrs, former chairman of the PCA put it: "The greenest building is the one still standing." At the time of this push 2013 Cohrs and the PCA were lobbying to strengthen US building codes and standards. It is likely that the association will renew its efforts in the wake of Irma.

With the winds slackening, the clean up operation starts. Cemex USA’s Houston Terminal said it had reopened for business after Harvey despite being two feet under water a week earlier. As reports start to emerge about the scale of the devastation in the region following Hurricane Irma the insured losses have been estimated at US$20 – 65bn by analysts quoted by the Financial Times. Two things are certain though. One, bad weather is likely to make an appearance in the third quarter financial reports and, two, the rebuilding is going to need lots of cement.

South Africa: Lafarge South Africa has appointed Rossen Papazov as its country chief executive officer (CEO). Papazov will join the company with effect from 1 October 2017, according to Business Report. He has been the country head for Holcim in Azerbaijan for the last four years. Prior to this he originally joined Holcim in 2000 as its Business Development Manager for Bulgaria. He has also held roles in Belgium and Romania.

Sweden: Magnus Ohlsson has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Cementa. Ohlsson has worked for Cementa and its parent company HeidelbergCement in various roles. Since 2014 he has been the Marketing Manager and Vice President of Cementa. He will continue to manage marketing in his new position. He succeeds Jan Gånge who will become the Finance Director and Deputy General Manager for HeidelbergCement Northern Europe.

US: The board of directors of Rockwell Automation has elected president and chief executive officer (CEO) Blake D Moret as its chairman with effect from 1 January 2018. Moret, aged 54 years, succeeds Keith D Nosbusch, who has served as chairman since 2005 and remains as a director. The company will continue to have an independent lead director.

Moret began his career in 1985 as a sales trainee, and subsequently served in senior positions across the organisation, including international assignments in Europe and Canada. He was promoted to senior vice president of Control Products & Solutions, one of the company’s two business segments, in 2011, and to president and chief executive officer in July 2016.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. He serves on the National Association of Manufacturers’ (NAM) Board of Directors and Executive Committee and on the boards of other industry and civic organizations and is a member of the Business Roundtable.

Sweden: SKF has appointed Kent Viitanen as its President of Bearing Operation. He was previously Senior Vice President, Group People, Communication and Quality.

Viitanen joined SKF in 1988 and has held a number of business unit and factory management roles in Sweden and internationally. The Group Quality function will also be integrated into Bearing Operations. He succeeds Luc Graux, who will take up a new role within Bearing Operations. Carina Bergfelt, in addition to her role as General Counsel and Senior Vice President, Legal and Sustainability, will take on the responsibility for People and Communication.

US: Jon R Tabor has been appointed as the chairman of Allied Mineral Products. He succeeds Jon K Tabor who becomes Chairman Emeritus of the refractory producer. Paul Jamieson, Corporate Vice President of Steel and Domestic Foundry, has been promoted to President.

In the role of chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), Jon R Tabor will retain responsibility for international and affiliate operations, Research and Development, Strategy, Finance, and the global scope of all other departments. Jamieson will take over Columbus-based Domestic Sales, Domestic Operations and Human Resources and report to Tabor.

Allied Mineral Products acquired the monolithic refractory and precast shapes producer Pryor Giggey in early 2017. It also plans to open a production plant in Russia.