Global Cement News

Colombia: Empresa Colombiana de Cementos has appointed Martha Patricia Quintero Valderrama as its director general. She succeeds Juan Martínez in the post, according to Valora Analitik. The company is a joint venture between Spain-based Cementos Molins and Corona. It operates the Alión brand.

Quintero has worked for Alión as its commercial director since 2018. Prior to this she worked for Polpaico in Chile and spent over 20 years with LafargeHolcim and its associated companies in Colombia. She is a trained civil engineer from the University of Cartagena. She also holds postgraduate qualifications from the EAN University and Tecnológica del Caribe.

US: Sabia has appointed Hal Grodzins as its chair and chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds Clinton Lingren in the post. Grodzins previously held the post of president and chief operating officer at Sabia. Prior to this he worked as the chair and CEO of Heuresis Corporation and also worked for Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Sabia produces analytical hardware and software for the bulk materials sector including applications for cement, coal, mineral ores and other markets.

Finland: Tana Oy has appointed Kalle Saarimaa as its chief executive officer with effect from 1 June 2023.

Saarimaa is currently working as the Senior Vice President for Circular Solutions at Fortum Oyj. However, he has been a member of the board of Tana Oy since 2021. Prior to working for Fortum Oyj he held posts with Ekokem and Walki Oy. He is also active in Finnish and European waste management organisations and as a board member of circular economy companies.

Tana sells products to the recycling and landfill sectors such as shredders, compactors, screeners, sifters and more.

India: Sagar Cements says that its subsidiary Andhra Cements will relaunch the clinker line at its Durga cement plant in Andhra Pradesh before July 2023. The Hindu BusinessLine newspaper has reported that the producer previously relaunched grinding operations at the plant in April 2023.

Sagar Cements plans to invest a further US$56.8m in Andhra Cements’ Durga cement plant to increase its installed cement capacity by 67% to 3Mt/yr and its clinker capacity by 39% to 2.3Mt/yr before 2025.

Philippines: San Miguel Corporation’s cement sales more than tripled year-on-year to US$183m during the first quarter of 2023, from US$57.1m during the first quarter of 2022. The group’s cement business contributed 3% of consolidated sales, compared to 1% in the first quarter of 2022. Overall, group sales rose by 9% to US$6.17bn, the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper has reported.

San Miguel Corporation completed its acquisition of Eagle Cement in December 2022.