India: Wonder Cement has appointment of Jagdish Chandra Toshniwal as Executive Director. Prior to joining Wonder Cement, Toshniwal spent 18 years with Ambuja Cement and was the Business Head of the Northern Region based in Delhi. An engineer by training, Toshniwal has strong operational and commercial skills.

Wonder Cement is planning to double its manufacturing capacity to 6.75Mt/yr by the fourth quarter of 2015. The company has said it will invest US$259m towards this. Wonder Cement is also in the process of increasing its dealer network. The company has significantly increased its brand spend.

The company's 3.25Mt/yr cement plant is located in RK Nagar, Tehsil-Nimbahera, District Chittorgarh, Rajasthan. A waste heat recovery system is currently being installed and the company is planning to build its own railway line and a captive power plant.

The Portland Cement Association (PCA) put out a positive forecast for residential housing in the US last week. PCA Chief Economist and Group Vice-President Edward J Sullivan announced that housing starts will increase by 20% to 1.2 million units in 2015 from around 950,000 units in 2014. Strong gains are also expected for 2016.

This is relevant because in previous forecasts growth has been pinned on residential construction demand where there was a lag in demand following the recession in 2008. The PCA has not said whether this improves on its last forecast from late 2014. At that time the US cement market in 2014 was expected to grow by 8% despite a late start to the building season and weaker than expected housing start figures. The latest release suggests that the PCA has become more optimistic about the number of houses being built.

Interestingly, Sullivan pointed out that the focus is on family homes, with high student debt levels excluding the millennial generation born in 1980 - 2000 and with the baby boomers now leaving the market. As an aside, it is worth mentioning that specifying millennials in relation to housing starts is pertinent outside the US also. In the UK, for example, age of first time house buyers has been steadily rising in recent years. This has implications for the construction market and the cement industry alike.

Back in the US, demographic trends are on the side of the cement producers, led by a rising population. Cement demand growth of around 8% is expected in 2015 and 2016. Forbes placed Houston, the location of last week's 2nd Global Well Cem Conference, as America's fastest-growing city. Census data show that it saw a population growth of 392,742 inhabitants in the metropolitan Houston area between 1 July 2010 and 1 July 2013. Put another way this amounted to an extra 10,909 people moving into town each month (!) during this period. That calls for a lot of cement as these people demand houses and infrastructure.

Unfortunately the fly in the ointment here is that the global price of oil has been falling since mid-2014 and Houston's growth is dependent on the oil industry and its associated industries. By extension the cement industry in Texas, the US's biggest producing state, is also vulnerable. Houston may be an extreme example but the PCA is already wondering what the implications of low oil prices will have on the US construction industry as a whole. To this end, Sullivan is set to forecast that short-term gains could be made in the housing market if the oil price stays low but it could have a negative effect if the low prices continue.

One question is whether the US housing market is already experiencing this boost yet. If it is, housing starts and cement production in 2014 may have been artificially stimulated by cheap oil. In this case cement production growth in the US over the next few years may be slower than expected. We'll have to wait and see what Sullivan predicts but in the meantime it might be worth delaying buying that nice new house in Houston.

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia has appointed its operational director Suparni as its new CEO. The state-owned company has taken the decision after receiving 69.6% votes from 76.1% its overall shareholders, according to The Jakarta Post. Suparni replaces Dwi Soetjipto, who has joined the oil and gas company Pertamina. The shareholders also appointed Rizkan Chandra to the board of directors.

South Africa: The board of PPC has been newly-constituted following the company's annual general meeting. Shareholders have elected six new board members. From a reduced list of 10 nominees, shareholders elected former Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni, former PPC finance director Peter Nelson, Nicky Goldin, Timothy Leaf-Wright, former Afrisam CEO Charles Naude and Daniel Ufitikirezi. Ufitikirezi is chairperson of PPC's Rwandan business. The appointment of Darryll Castle as CEO was also approved by shareholders and Tryphosa Ramano retained her position as CFO.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has appointed Onne van der Weijde as CEO, effective from 1 February 2015. Van der Weijde, ex-Holcim India head, will take the helm from Dangote Cement's Devakumar Edwin.

On 15 January 2015, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) abandoned the Euro1.20 cap on the Swiss Franc. The effects of the decision were immediate, with the value of a Franc dropping from Euro1.20 to just Euro0.99. The decision caused turmoil for currency brokers and big business in Switzerland's normally bullet-proof finance sector, with some brokers out of business by the end of the same day.

It is not hard to see why these brokers were caught out by the sudden change in the SNB's position. On 18 December 2014 Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the SNB's Governing Board, stated in no uncertain terms that, "The SNB remains committed to purchasing unlimited quantities of foreign currency to enforce the minimum exchange rate with the utmost determination." In research conducted by Bloomberg News on 9 - 14 January 2015, not one of 22 economists questioned expected the SNB to abandon the cap in 2015. That's quite an about-turn by the SNB in less than a month.

The decision to 'scrap-the-cap' shows the potential of outside influences to suddenly unseat even the most secure of businesses. Such companies include Holcim, the share-price of which went on a rollercoaster on the SIX Swiss Exchange in the immediate aftermath of the announcement. At one point on 15 January 2015 Holcim had lost 20% of its value before closing 11% down on the day. It has since recovered somewhat, although a whopping Euro3bn of its capital has been swallowed up due to the plummeting Franc.

Following the sudden changes to its circumstances, Holcim immediately reinforced its commitment to its merger with Lafarge. "Regarding a possible impact on the combination with Lafarge, what we can say is that we remain committed to the merger," said spokesman Eike-Christian Meuter. There was an almost simultaneous reciprocal statement from the French producer, also stating its commitment. No change there then.

The calmness of Holcim's statements was broadly in line with commentary from bankers, which stated that large deals were unlikely to be affected by the change. This is because Swiss firms can insure themselves against the effects of such moves. Another 'get-out of jail free card' could have been a material adverse change (MAC) clause. If in place a MAC would allow the merging parties to terminate a transaction if an external event significantly changes the outlines of the deal. It is not possible to know whether Lafarge and Holcim have such a clause due to confidentiality issues.

Despite the fundamentals of the LafargeHolcim merger appearing to be unaffected, the scrapping of the Franc cap is an excellent example of how external policy makers can have a direct and unexpected impact on the underlying conditions of the global cement industry. Another major external influence at present is the low oil price, mainly affected by the oil producing cartel OPEC. HeidelbergCement said this week that it expects the oil price fall to have a positive impact on its profit in 2015. It makes 80% of its revenue in oil-importing countries, which should see reduced transport and production costs. This will result in improved economic conditions, higher levels of construction and hence cement production. For HeidelbergCement 2015 could be a case of costs down, sales up.

That surely sounds like good news, for some stagnant 'old' developed economies at least. However, in the world of 'new normals' it is the IMF that has sounded the biggest warning this week. It dropped its 2015 global economic growth forecast from 3.8% to 3.5%. As fuel prices slump, so too has inflation. In the EU this has resulted in deflationary pressures that could yet stump the recovery. Consumers (and construction firms alike) may go from a position of not being able to afford things, to not wanting to buy them. In the longer term, this may be yet more bad news for the cement sector in established markets.

South Africa: The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) has appointed Seana Nkhahle from the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) as its new Chairman. Nkhahle takes over the reins from long-time Chairman Bruce Kerswill, who played a leading role in the formation of the council.

The GBCSA was established in 2007 to promote green building development in the country. It is a member of the World Green Building Council (World GBC) and is today one of the most active councils worldwide.

Nkhahle is an Executive Director at SALGA, responsible for 'Corporate Strategy and Research.' Prior to this, he was the Executive Manager and National Programmes Co-ordinator at the South African Cities Network from 2005 to 2009. In 2004, Nkhahle received a recognition award issued jointly by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction.

If you ever visit Lima be sure to try the wonton soup! One of the surprises of the Peruvian capital is the large number of Chinese restaurants. Peru has one of the largest proportions of inhabitants of Chinese-descent in Latin America. This adds a spoonful of historical context to this week's news of China's Jidong Development Group's intentions to buy Cementos Interoceanicos. It is one of a few stories affirming Peru's growth in recent years, although this trend may be changing.

The major Chinese producer is acquiring a cement plant with mineral rights that was first proposed in 2008. Originally the 1.6Mt/yr plant was budgeted at US$250m with construction set to start in 2009 and production intended to start in early 2011. At the time company executive director Armando Belfiore told local press that reserves of 700Mt of limestone and 390Mt of pozzolan exist in the Macusani, Ajoyani and Potoni districts in the Carabaya province of Puno. Subsequent plans were to develop lime and calcium carbide also. However, at present the project still appears to be in the development phase. No doubt Chinese money will be very welcome.

Meanwhile Peru's local producers have steadily been making their own progress towards becoming regional players in their own right. In December 2014 Union Andina de Cementos (Unacem) completed its purchase of Lafarge's cement assets in Ecuador. The US$517m deal included a 1.4Mt/yr cement plant in Otavalo. This followed Holding Cementero del Peru, a subsidiary of Gloria which operates Cementos Yura, paying US$300m to buy up to 98.4% in Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento (Soboce), Bolivia's largest cement producer. Media analysts have predicted that Cementos Pacasmayo is also likely to expand internationally once it has finished its local projects.

Internally, each of the major Peruvian cement producers has its own projects. Unacem is investing US$374m on its Atocongo and Condorcocha plants between 2014 and 2018, with a focus on the cement mill, the development of the Carpapata III hydroelectricity project and the construction of bagging facilities in Condorcocha. Cementos Yura targeted US$50m towards machinery and equipment at its Yura plant near Arequipa. Cementos Pacasmayo's new US$385m cement plant at Piura is due to start operation in the second half of 2015. The new plant in northwest Peru will have a production capacity of 1.6Mt/yr of cement and 1Mt/yr of clinker.

Cement production in Peru has slowed since 2012 when the country saw production rise by 16% year-on-year to 9.85Mt. 2013 saw production rise by 6% to 10.5Mt. Currently released figures from the association of cement manufacturers in Peru (Asocem) to November 2014 suggest that this growth has continued to fall to 1.5% year-on-year.

Cementos Pacasmayo reported in its third quarter report for 2014 that the Peruvian economy had experienced a slowdown during the first nine months of the year although it was expected to recover in the final quarter and beyond due to impending infrastructure projects and spending. Given Peru's continued growth in gross domestic product (GDP), Jidong, Pacasmayo and Peru's other cement producers could do worse than order a nice bowl of wonton soup while they wait and see what happens.

US: Continental Building Products (CBP) has appointed James 'Jay' Bachmann to the position of president and CEO, effective immediately. Bachmann has served as interim CEO since November 2014 and CFO since January 2014. He will continue to serve as CFO in an interim role, pending the appointment of a permanent CFO.

CBP has also announced the appointment of Dennis Romps to the position of chief accounting officer (CAO). Romps will also continue to serve as senior vice president and corporate controller, positions he has held since January 2014.

Bachmann formerly served as CFO at Lafarge USA and co-chief financial officer of Lafarge North America from November 2012 through December 2013. He also held multiple executive responsibilities at Lafarge since 2002, including senior vice president of finance (Investor Relations) of Lafarge SA from January 2008 through October 2012 and senior vice president and controller of Lafarge North America from November 2005 to June 2006. Prior to Lafarge, he worked at Arthur Anderson from September 1990 to April 2002.

Romps previously served as CBP's CFO from August 2013 to December 2013. He formerly served as co-chief financial officer of Lafarge North America from December 2006 until August 2013, while also holding a variety of vice president positions in finance, IT and supply chain of the gypsum division of Lafarge North America from 2005 until August 2013.

India: Osvaldo Ayres Filho has resigned as a director from Shree Digvijay Cement Company. His resignation was effective from the close of business on 13 January 2015.