Global Cement News

India: The board of directors of Wonder Cement, a part of the RK Group, has appointed Sailesh Mohta as President (Marketing). Mohta will report into JC Toshniwal, Managing Director, according to Asian News International. Mohta will oversee strategic business partnerships and develop tactical policies aimed at augmenting the national presence of the brand, identifying potential markets, implementing a conducive growth stratagem and generating a significant share of voice in the marketplace.

Since 2010, Mohta has served as the president of Binani Cement. He holds a bachelor's degree in commerce from the University Of Mumbai and a chartered accountancy degree from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He is also a member of Multi Commodity Exchange of India and National Spot Exchange.

US: Summit Materials has appointed Noel R Ryan III as its new Vice President, Investor Relations. Ryan has more than 15 years’ experience in the investor relations and capital markets industries, most recently serving as Vice President and Head of Investor Relations & External Communications for Calumet Specialty Products Partners, a publicly traded producer of specialty hydrocarbon and fuels products.

Previously, Ryan served as head of the investor relations function at Delek US Holdings and as head of corporate communications at QEP Resources. Prior to these roles, he was Executive Director and Co-Head of the Financial Communications Practice Group at a nationally-ranked investor relations consultancy. Ryan began his career in US equities research at Banc of America Securities. He holds a Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Once again Ecocem has shone the torch this week for a rare thing within Europe these days: a growing cement company. Its latest project is an import terminal in Sweden, as part of a deal with Bolidan, which launched on 22 September 2016. This supports an arrangement to supply cement for the Boliden Garpenberg mine. The agreement also includes supply for the Boliden Tara Mines in Ireland.

This follows the announcement to build a new slag grinding plant in Dunkirk, France in early September 2016 and the opening of a new terminal in Runcorn, UK earlier in the year. The 1.4Mt/yr Dunkirk plant is a joint-venture with the steelmaker ArcelorMittal, intended to target markets in north of France and in the UK. Once complete it will join Ecocem’s growing collection of grinding units in Ireland, France and the Netherlands. The slag-cement producer operates a 0.35Mt/yr plant at Dublin, a 0.7Mt/yr plant at Fos in the south of France and a 0.35Mt/yr plant at Moerdijk under its subsidiary Orcem Netherlands.

The focus on the UK makes sense given that Ecocem said that it had made commitments to sell more product in the UK in its first year than its total domestic sales in 2016. This followed the situation where, prior to entering the British market, Ecocem had to stop taking orders in the short term due to demand. If this is actually the case then it is unsurprising to note that Ecocem is also building a second UK terminal at Sheerness at the mouth of the River Thames near to London. As an aside, Francis Flower bought the Scunthorpe ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) plant from Hanson Cement in mid-2015 after the local market regulator requested the sale.

As Charlie Zeynel, ZAG International, says in an interview to be published in the October 2016 issues of Global Cement Magazine, that supplementary cementitous materials, including slags, in cement blends has grown worldwide, particularly in Europe and Japan, where GGBS cement represents around 25% and 30% of cement sales respectively. Zeynel goes on to say that GGBS usage is set to rise in other parts of the world, particularly the US, but this helps to explain the market Ecocem is operating in within northern Europe.

Ecocem seems well aware of the potential for slag cements in the US because it is attempting to build a Euro45m grinding plant Vallejo, California under its Orcem Americas subsidiary. The process has so far been dogged by planning problems at the proposed site as well as organised local opposition, which does not want a new industrial plant in the neighbourhood and issues such as the increased traffic it would bring. The irony here is that Ecocem bills itself as an environmentally friendly cement producer. Yet even environmentally-friendly cement needs to be manufactured and taken to site.

To misquote Kermit the Frog: it’s not easy selling green cement. However, Ecocem’s progress in Europe is encouraging both in the UK and the wider area. Roll on the opening of the Sheerness terminal.

Find out more about Ecocem's operations here: www.ecocem.fr/en/

Russia: Arpad Farkas has been appointed general director of Lipetskcement, part of the Eurocement Group. Farkas previously ran a cement plant for Lafarge.

US: Eagle Materials has appointed George Damiris to its board of directors. Damiris is the chief executive officer and president of HollyFrontier Corporation. He also serves as a director at HollyFrontier and Holly Logistics Services.