Global Cement News

US: Germany’s Beumer Group has appointed Joseph Dzierzawski as the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Beumer Corporation, its US subsidiary based in Somerset, New Jersey. He has been in post since April 2020. He is responsible for the Conveying & Loading Systems, Palletizing and Packaging Technology, and Sortation and Distribution Systems business lines in the North American market.

Dzierzawski holds a degree in metallurgical engineering from the University of Michigan. Later he attended executive management programs at the University of Michigan School of Business and the INSEAD business school in Fontainebleau, France. He joins Beumer from Hatch Metals & Minerals group where he worked as Global Director, Technology & Business Development. Prior to this he worked at SMS, where he held a series of positions, eventually serving as president and CEO for SMS USA and Chief Technology Officer for SMS Group.

Austria: Semperit has appointed Gabriele Schallegger as its chief financial officer (CFO) with effect from October 2020. Her term of office will end in October 2023.

Schallegger, aged 48 years, studied business administration in Graz and Exeter in the UK followed by several international management programmes, including one in St. Gallen, Switzerland. She most recently worked as the finance director of the Uncoated Fine Paper division at Mondi. Prior to this she held the position of CFO of Mondi Syktyvkar in Russia as well as finance director of the Kraft Paper Business division. She started her career in auditing and tax consulting at Arthur Andersen in Vienna. Subsequently she worked for the American pharmaceutical company Baxter and the Norwegian Orkla Foods Group, among others.

She succeeds Petra Preining, who had taken over the CFO role on an interim basis and will return to the supervisory board and audit committee of Semperit in October 2020.

Semperit develops, produces and sells a wide variety of products including conveyor belts, escalator handrails, construction profiles, cable car rings, products for railway superstructures, rubber products for the medical and industrial sectors and hydraulic and industrial hoses.

Nigeria: Sinoma Construction Nigeria says it has completed the construction of a second 6000t/d line at BUA Group subsidiary Obu & Edo Cement’s Edo cement plant, bringing the plant’s total integrated capacity to 5.5Mt/yr. The subsidiary of China-based Sinoma said that it completed the work in spite of an outbreak of malaria and electricity shortages. It said, “The successful fulfilment of the project has laid a solid foundation for the company's in-depth localised operation and comprehensive cooperation with the BUA Group.”

Honduras: The government says that it will not raise import duties on cement so as not to impact negatively upon “the construction industry and consumer.” The La Prensa newspaper has reported that Minister of the Secretariat of Economic Development María Antonia Rivera said, “The Government is defining regulations on the quality of imported cement and cement made in Honduras. We have no plans to increase tariffs; rather we are promoting price stability.”

Bolivia: Fábrica Nacional de Cemento (Fancesa) has announced that no cuts will be made to transport spending until after the end of the coronavirus lockdown. Plans to reduce operating expenditure in this area have been opposed by the company’s drivers. Fancesa head of transportation Jhonny Palma said, “Both parties now have the time to analyse the proposals. In due course we will present our operating cost sheets and these will be put up for debate.”