Global Cement News

US: CalPortland has appointed Kerri L Leininger as vice president of government relations. She will be located in Washington, DC and will monitor and lobby advocacy issues at the state and federal level.

Leininger joins CalPortland after almost 14 years of working for the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) where she served as the executive vice president of government and political affairs. In her former position, she focused on industry issues that included building codes, resiliency, transportation, labour and small business.

Prior to NRMCA, Leininger worked for Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, a law firm specialising in healthcare and transportation public policy in Washington, DC. Leininger has also worked for the offices of former Senator Mike DeWine, Senator Jim Bunning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and US Representative Ed Whitfield.

Leininger is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and applied technology.

Mexico: Siemens has appointed Juan Ignacio Diaz as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Siemens Mexico, Central America and Caribbean with effect from 1 June 2018. He succeeds Louise Goeser, who has left the company. Diaz was previously Country CEO of Siemens Chile and lead for its Mobility division.

Diaz joined Siemens in 2008. He has served in various functions in Chile and South America, first as General Counsel for Chile and later as General Counsel for the South America region. In 2010 he also took the position of City Account Manager for the Metropolitan Region of Santiago de Chile, responsible for developing the portfolio of sustainable solutions for megacities. Since 2013, he has been CEO of Siemens Chile and lead for its Mobility division.

Austria: Stefan Kern has been appointed as the head of A TEC Group. He succeeded Wolfgang Hammer on 1 April 2018. Kern started at A TEC in August 2013 and was responsible for sales activities in Northern Europe, Eastern Europe and South Africa. In 2016 he joined the management board. Kern originally studied chemical engineering in Vienna.

Turkey: Göltaş Çimento and AS Çimento are being investigated by the Turkish Competition Authority for alleged price fixing of cement. The government body says that its preliminary investigation in early May 2018 has discovered ‘serious’ findings. Further investiation will follow to examine whether the law has been broken and whether fines are applicable. Both cement producers operate plants in the southwest of the country.

Bangladesh: The local cement industry has a cement production utilisation rate of 54%. Cement consumption was 27.1Mt in 2017, according to the Daily Star newspaper. However, the country had a production capacity of 50.2Mt/yr in 2017 from around 45 companies of various sizes. Production capacity is expected to grow to 80Mt/yr by 2019.

Masud Khan, the chief executive officer of Crown Cement Group, forecasts that cement consumption will grow by 8 – 10% by 2022. He blamed the local oversupply on an overpopulated market. Other issues the local industry faces include a recent rise in the price of raw materials, port congestion which causes delay in unloading raw materials, a lack of smaller ships, local currency depreciation, low retail price and low load limits on local roads.