Global Cement News

Nigeria: Mathew Philip retires as the Deputy Group Managing Director of Dangote Cement. He has also left the company’s board of directors. He spent two years in the post. No successor has been announced.

Philip holds over 35 years of experience in the cement industry. Prior to working for Dangote Cement, he was Head of Cement Manufacturing Excellence for LafargeHolcim APAC region. He also worked as the Chief Manufacturing Officer for India-based ACC in the late 2010s. Before this he worked for Lafarge in a variety of roles and countries including Director - Performance and Progress in Kuala Lumpur and Relations Director in China. He originally started his career working as a process engineer for ACC. He is a chemical engineer from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Madras.

Nigeria: BUA Cement has appointed Chikezie Ajaero as its Acting Chief Financial Director (CFO). He succeeds Jacques Piekarski in the full post of CFO.

Ajaero has worked as the Finance Director of BUA Cement’s Obu plant since 2020. He is an accountant with a master’s of business administration from the University of Lagos. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and holds over 25 years of experience in financial reporting and control.

Ireland: Ecocem has appointed Sally Anne Sherry as the Managing Director for its UK and Ireland business operations. She succeeds Susan McGarry in the post, who has become the group’s Director of Public Affairs and Sustainability.

Sherry holds around two decades of experience in the property sector and has worked as a non-executive director for several companies. Notably she worked as a Director and General Counsel for property development and investment company Bartra from 2015 to 2023. She holds legal qualifications from the University of Galway.

Germany: Buzzi subsidiary Deuna Zement plans to invest €350m to install a carbon capture system at its cement plant in Deuna, having completed two feasibility studies. The Thüringer Allgemeine newspaper has reported that, when operational in 2029, the system will capture 620,000t/yr of CO₂. This will make the Deuna cement plant carbon neutral. The company has applied for government funding for the project.

Buzzi Unicem said that its subsidiary is ‘Doing pioneering work on the path to decarbonising the cement industry.’ It added “The system will be efficient and take all relevant environmental considerations into account.”

India: Jaiprakash Associates has defaulted on loans worth US$553m, including principal of US$210m and interest payments of US$343m. The Deccan Chronicle newspaper has reported that the producer has total borrowings of US$3.57bn, repayable by 2037. The borrowings are comprised of fund-based working capital, non-fund-based working capital, term loans and foreign currency convertible bonds.

Jaiprakash Associates will now transfer US$2.27bn to a special purpose vehicle as part of a scheme of arrangement, subject to the approval of the National Company Law Tribunal.