Global Cement News
Search Cement News
Arabian Cement appoints Sergio Alcantarilla as CEO
Written by Global Cement staff
10 August 2016
Egypt: Arabian Cement has appointed Sergio Alcantarilla as its CEO with effect from 3 August 2016. He succeeds Jose Maria Magriña Vadillo.
Alcantarilla was previously the Chief Operation Officer of Arabian Cement. He graduated from the Superior Industrial Engineering School at the University of Seville in Spain. After entering the cement industry in 2002 he worked for five years as a plant manager in Spain before moving to Egypt in 2009.
Alain Bourguignon and Ian Thackwray leave LafargeHolcim
Written by Global Cement staff
10 August 2016
Switzerland: Alain Bourguignon, region head for North America, and Ian Thackwray, region head for Asia Pacific will leave LafargeHolcim following a reorganisation of its executive committee. The group said the changes reflected an evolution of its portfolio following recent divestments and the closure of its integration phase following the merger between Lafarge and Holcim.
Pascal Casanova, currently responsible for the Latin America Region, will take responsibility for North America including Mexico. Roland Köhler, currently responsible for the Europe Region will add Australia, New Zealand and Trading to his responsibilities. Martin Kriegner, currently responsible for India, will join the Executive Committee and take additional responsibility for South East Asia. Oliver Osswald, currently responsible for our operations in Argentina, will join the Executive Committee with responsibility for Central and South America.
As of 5 August 2016, the executive committee, chaired by Eric Olsen, will be composed of the following members:
- Urs Bleisch, Group Head of Performance & Cost;
- Pascal Casanova, Region Head North America including Mexico;
- Roland Köhler, Region Head Europe & Australia / New Zealand & Trading;
- Martin Kriegner, Region Head India & South East Asia;
- Gérard Kuperfarb, Group Head of Growth & Innovation;
- Caroline Luscombe, Group Head of Organization and Human Resources;
- Oliver Osswald, Region Head Central & South America;
- Saâd Sebbar, Region Head Middle East & Africa and
- Ron Wirahadiraksa, Chief Financial Officer.
Dangote Cement to start coal mining coal towards end of 2016 09 August 2016
Nigeria: Dangote Cement intends to start mining its own coal at Ankpa, Kogi State in order to cope with gas shortages in the country. The coal will be of a high enough quality to be used without blending. Most of the cement producer’s production lines in Nigeria will have operational coal mills by September 2016. At present the company is using locally purchased coal that is blended with imported coal to ‘assure optimal quality.’
“Our investment in coal is enabling us to reduce our dependence on both oil and gas as fuel sources, thus protecting our production from disruption and improving margins,” said chief executive Onne van der Weijde.
CILAS Biskra cement plant starts production 09 August 2016
Algeria: The CILAS Bikra cement plant started production in mid-July 2016, 11 days before the scheduled start of operations. The 2.7Mt/yr plant is a joint venture between Lafarge Algeria and Souakri Group. The project had an investment of Euro270m and it took 21 months to build, according to Le Matin newspaper.
Sri Lanka: Tokyo Cement Group entered into a collaboration agreement with Ube Industries from 1 August 2016 for technical support services and to import raw materials from Japan, to manufacture ‘high quality’ cement.