Global Cement News

South Africa: PPC has appointed Roland van Wijnen as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds Johan Claassen, who announced his retirement in November 2018. Van Wijnen has signed a four-year contract and is expected to take up the position as soon as he secures a work permit.

Van Wijnen has worked for Holcim and LafargeHolcim for 17 years in various leadership positions across the group including the CEO of Holcim Philippines. He also worked in South Africa for the business before it left the territory. He is an Industrial Engineering graduate from the University of Twente in the Netherlands.

Barbados/Jamaica: Trinidad Cement has made changes to its executive management at its subsidiaries in Barbados and Jamaica. It has appointed Carlos Roberto Cordero Castro as the General Manager of Arawak Cement in Barbados. He succeeds Yago Castro Izaguirre in the role from 1 August 2019. It has appointed Castro Izaguirre as the General Manager of Caribbean Cement. He succeeds Peter Donkersloot Ponce from 1 August 2019.

Spain: FYM-HeidelbergCement plans to spend Euro3m on a new raw slate crusher at its integrated Malaga cement plant. The upgrade will replace two existing crushers and will improve dust and noise emissions. The new crusher will be installed in early 2020, with commissioning scheduled for the middle of the same year. No supplier for the equipment has been specified.

The plant is also about to launch a new clinker conveyor at the Port of Malaga. The enclosed system will deliver clinker from the dock to ships via a telescopic arm with a loading capacity of 650t/hr. The first boat to be loaded with the new system is scheduled for late July 2019. The project cost Euro2.5m.

North Korea: Production has reportedly been stopped for three months at the Seongho Lee cement plant near Pyongyang due to a lack of electricity. Sources quoted by South Korea based Daily NK online newspaper suggest that government power rationing has lowered the importance of the plant in comparison to other so-called ‘core’ industries.

The Korean Cement Association reported in 2011 that the plant had a production capacity of 0.95Mt and it uses a wet process production line. The site dates back to 1919 and the age of its equipment may have contributed to the decision to idle the plant.

Chile: The Servicio de Evaluación Ambiental (SEA), the country’s environmental body, has approved the environmental impact assessment for a new 0.5Mt/yr grinding plant that Melón is planning to build in Punta Arenas. The unit will have an investment of US$45m, according to the Diario Financiero newspaper. Spain’s Cemengal will supply the mill for the project.