US: Refractory manufacturer HarbisonWalker International (HWI) has announced two new members of its senior leadership team. Ross Wilkin has joined as chief financial officer (CFO) and corporate treasurer, and Michael Werner has joined as senior vice president, Commercial and corporate officer.

Wilkin joins HWI from Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, where he served as CFO. Before his role at Universal Stainless, he was CFO at Dynamics. Much of Wilkin’s career has been spent with HJ Heinz Company where he eventually became the became the vice president and CFO for the company’s Australia and New Zealand organisation. He began his finance career at KPMG, serving both in Toronto, Canada and in Cleveland, Ohio. A graduate of Carlton University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting and Finance, Wilkin is a certified public accountant in both Canada and the US.

Werner previously led global commercial operations for Loparex. Prior to this he spent 20 years at GE Plastics and Sabic in numerous domestic and global roles, where he progressed to become Product General Manager. He began his career at Monsanto as an engineer in Technical Development and as a manager of Business Development in the thermoplastic elastomer business. Werner holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Polymer Science from the Pennsylvania State University.

Bangladesh: Masud Khan has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Crown Cement Group. Previously he was an adviser to the CEO of LafargeHolcim Bangladesh and also worked as its chief financial officer, according to the Daily Star newspaper. He has also served as an independent director of GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh, Marico Bangladesh and Berger Paints Bangladesh. Khan graduated from St Xavier's College in Kolkata, India. He is also a member of the guest faculty at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) board of directors has appointed Michael Ireland president and chief executive officer (CEO). He replaces former President and CEO James Toscas.

In addition, the PCA board of directors elected the following new members: Greg Hale from Capitol Aggregates; Steve Regis, Bruce Shafer and Mark Wagy from CalPortland Company; Enrique Rozas from Drake Cement and Mike Ireland of PCA.

India: Dalmia Bharat has appointed Sanjeev Gemawat as its company secretary. He succeeds Nidhi Bisaria who has resigned. Gemawat has worked for Dalmia Bharat as an executive director (legal) since 2016. Previous to this he worked for DLF Group, JCB India and Modicorp amongst other companies. A trained accountant, he is a member of the Chartered Accountants of India.