Global Cement News

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia has appointed Mario Bastian Gross as its chief executive officer (CEO). He will take up his new post on 1 April 2018. He succeeds Thierry Legrand who has been in post since mid-2015.

Gross, a German national aged 39 years, joins Lafarge Malaysia from Sika. He started his career with Sika in 2000 and has global experience with roles across Germany, China, Thailand and Switzerland. He was Asia Pacific Head of Procurement from 2007 to 2011, after which he was appointed Managing Director of Sika in Thailand. In 2013, he took the role Head of Global Procurement, Quality & Sustainability of Sika based in Switzerland.

He holds an MBA from the University of Strathclyde in the UK and a Bachelor of Economics from the VWA Koblenz in Germany.

Burkina Faso: Assam Daoud has become the president of the Burkina Faso Cement Association. The director general of Ciments de l'Afrique (CIMAF) succeeds Hippolyte Guinguéré, the commercial director of Diamond Cement. Daoud will hold the post for one year. The association has also recently inaugurated its new headquarters.

Germany: Aumund Fördertechnik has appointed Reiner Furthmann as its Managing Director Technology. He started the role on 1 March 2018. His main responsibilities are Research & Development, Design & Engineering, Quality Assurance, Production, Materials Management and Purchasing. Furthmann joined Aumund in 1984. His previous role with the company was as its Technical Director.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement’s sales revenue rose in 2017 but its sales volumes of cement fell. Its revenue rose by 31% year-on-year to US$2.23bn in 2017 from US$1.70bn in 2016. However, sales volumes of cement in Nigeria fell by 15.9% to 12.7Mt from 15.1Mt. Altogether, its sales volumes rose by 8.4% to 9.37Mt in the rest of Africa and fell by 7% to 21.9Mt in total. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 50.9% to US$1.08bn from US$713m.

“Although Nigerian volumes were lower in 2017, our Pan-African operations increased volumes by 8.4% and now make up 42% of the Group’s total cement sales, demonstrating the robust diversification of our business,” said Joe Makoju, Acting Group Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement. He added that the cement producer had increased its footprint from eight countries to 10 during the reporting period with the opening of new facilities in the Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, while its operations in Cameroon, Senegal and Ethiopia achieved ‘strong’ sales growth during the year.

Regionally, Dangote Cement said that its estimate for the total Nigerian cement market fell by 18% to 18.6Mt in 2017 due to a recession in the first half of the year and higher prices. It also noted that its Gboko plant in Benue State was mothballed for ‘most of the year.’ Elsewhere, it said that it exported 174,000t of cement from Nigeria to Ghana. In Senegal it introduced 32.5R cement to its product range. In Sierra Leone it opened a 0.5Mt/yr terminal and bagging plant in Freetown in early 2017. In Tanzania it said that its plant at Mtwara had lost earnings due to its reliance on temporary diesel generators. Gas turbines are scheduled to start operation in March 2018.

China: Dongwu Cement has forecast that its sales revenue will rise by 60% year-on-year to US$56.4m in 2017 from US$35.2m in 2016. It has attributed the boost to increased sales volumes and the price of cement, according to ET News. Its profit is forecast to more than double to US$10.7m from US$2.37m. The cement producer will release its full annual results later in March 2018.