Global Cement News

Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has appointed Ke Zhigang as its Chief Financial Officer. He succeeds Puneet Sharma in the post.

Ke Zhigang holds over 20 years’ experience in the cement sector. He started working for Huaxin Cement in 2003 and later became its Overseas Regional Finance Director in 2018. Ke Zhigang holds a master of business administration (MBA) qualification from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and an undergraduate degree in accounting from Huazhong Agricultural University.

China-based Huaxin Cement acquired a majority-share from Holcim in August 2025.

India: Vicat has appointed Gagandeep Singh Khehra as its Head of Production and Process at its subsidiaries in India.

Singh Khehra has worked in the cement industry since the mid-2000s. He began his career working for Binani Cement in 2007 before joining Holcim in 2010, holding production roles at its local subsidiary ACC. He eventually became the Head of Production at its Wadi plant, Karnataka in 2024. This role continued following the acquisition by Adani Group. Singh Khehra holds an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Punjab Technical University.

Pakistan: Pioneer Cement has appointed Ch Tasneem Anwar as Deputy General Manager (Production). He has worked in production roles at the cement producer since 2017. Prior to this was the Section Head (Production) at City Cement in Saudi Arabia. He launched his career working for Pioneer Cement in 2006. Anwar holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore.

Germany: KHD Humboldt Wedag has appointed Martin Strouhal as its Chief Sales Officer from effect from 1 January 2026.

Strouhal previously worked as the Vice President - Head of Construction & Operation - Region APAC for wind turbine manufacturer Vestas. Before this, he worked for FLSmidth from the mid-1990s to 2022. He started as a Site and Installation Service Manager before moving into sales. Notable positions during this time included Sales Director - Cement Project Division EMEA & APAC from 2011 to 2016 and Senior Vice President - Global Projects and Asset Management from 2018 to 2022. Strouhal is a graduate in machinery and production engineering from the DTU - Technical University of Denmark and holds a number of post-graduate business qualifications.

Romania: Holcim has won a European Union Innovation Fund grant for its Carbon Hub CPT 01 carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at its Campulung cement plant. The initiative will produce an estimated 2Mt/yr of near-zero cement from 2032, marking Eastern Europe’s first full-scale onshore CCS project, according to the company.

The project, developed with Carmeuse as a key partner, will capture CO₂ from kiln flue gases, compress it and transport it for permanent underground storage. Holcim said the project supports the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal and advances its NextGen Growth 2030 strategy.

With this grant, Holcim now has eight large-scale EU-supported carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects, located in Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Poland and Romania.