Global Cement News

Mexico: Changes to Cemex’s regional management started on 1 April 2025 following the appointment of Jaime Muguiro as new group CEO. Jesus Gonzalez has been appointed as president of Cemex USA, Sergio Menendez as president of Cemex Mexico, Jose Antonio Cabrera as president of Cemex Europe, Middle East, and Africa and Alejandro Ramirez as president of Cemex South, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Jesús González joined Cemex in 1998 and has held several management positions, including Corporate Director of Strategic Planning, Vice President of Strategic Planning in Cemex USA, President of Cemex Central America, President of Cemex UK, Executive Vice President of Sustainability and Operations Development and, most recently, President of Cemex South, Central America and the Caribbean. He holds a master’s degree in naval engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and a master’s of business administration (MBA) from IESE - University of Navarra, Barcelona.

Sergio Menéndez has worked for Cemex since 1993. Prominent roles he has held include Director of Planning and Logistics in Asia, Corporate Director of Commercial Development, President of Cemex Philippines, Vice President of Strategic Planning for the Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia region, President of Cemex Egypt, Vice President of Infrastructure Segment and Government Sales in Mexico, Vice President of Distribution Segment Sales in Mexico and most recently, President of Cemex Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia. He holds an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and an MBA from Stanford University.

José Antonio Cabrera joined Cemex in 2000 and started in cement operation roles. He has since worked as President for Cemex in Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Haiti, as well as Vice President of Strategic Planning for Cemex in the Asia, Middle East and Africa region. He holds an undergraduate degree in physics from La Laguna University in Spain and an MBA from the IE Business School.

Alejandro Ramírez has worked for Cemex since 2000 starting in strategic planning roles. He later became President for Cemex in Colombia & Peru, Dominican Republic, Caribbean, Costa Rica, TCL Group, Puerto Rico, Argentina and Thailand. He holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Tecnológico de Monterrey and an MBA from Wharton business school.

Austria: Wietersdorfer Group has appointed Tanja Pfaff-Röders as Head of Global Human Resources.

Pfaff-Röders previously worked for the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) in human resource roles from 2018. Her final position was as the lead on International Strategic HR Projects / Diversity & Inclusion. Before this she worked for Xerox, Hoerbiger, Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) and Sparkasse Baden. She is a graduate of the Vienna University of Economics and Business with additional qualifications from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Denmark: Air Liquide and Cementir Holding, via its Danish subsidiary Aalborg Portland, have signed the European Innovation Fund grant agreement for the ACCSION project at the Aalborg cement plant. The project aims to reduce the plant’s CO₂ emissions by 1.5Mt/yr, with the captured CO₂ transported via pipeline to onshore CO₂ storage facilities.

The value of the Innovation Fund grant is €220m, fully financed by the EU Emissions Trading System.

Greece: Ecocem has signed a partnership agreement with Titan Group to co-develop and deliver low-carbon cements using Ecocem’s ACT technology. The collaboration will initially target the Greek market, replacing a portion of clinker with locally sourced supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) to reduce cement CO₂ emissions by up to 70%.

Group managing director Donal O’Riain said “Signing this co-development and technology transfer agreement with a partner of Titan Group’s size and calibre is a real demonstration of confidence in our ACT technology. This partnership has the potential to accelerate the use of a range of SCMs with ACT technology and deliver rapid and low-cost decarbonisation of the cement industry globally.”

US: Heidelberg Materials North America announced that it has completed the acquisition of Giant Cement Holding (GCHI) and its subsidiaries Giant Cement Company, Dragon Products Company and Giant Resource Recovery from the Fortaleza, Uniland and Trituradora groups.

The deal includes a cement plant in Harleyville, South Carolina, four associated distribution terminals, and cement and slag distribution terminals in Newington, New Hampshire and Thomaston, Maine. It also includes Giant Resource Recovery, an alternative fuel recycling business in the eastern US.

President and CEO Chris Ward said “We are pleased to complete the acquisition of the GCHI assets and further strengthen our presence in the important Southeastern US and New England markets. We welcome the approximately 400 employees and the GCHI customers to Heidelberg Materials and look forward to the opportunities ahead.”