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Kyrgyzstan: Gansu Qilianshan Cement and 8th Metallurgical Corporation have signed a memo on the joint construction of a cement production line project in Osh, Kyrgyzstan with contractor JBK. The three parties plan to spend US$130m building the cement line. The Chinese and Kyrgyzstan sides hold 80% and 20% of the project respectively.
India: Malabar Cements' Pallipuram plant in Kerala, which has 600t/day of production capacity, plans to restart production after a layoff of six years. The trial run was started on 20 March 2015.
The plant was shut in 2009 following a clinker shortage and labour issues. After funds were received from the state government in 2014, renovation of the plant costing around US$780,939 and 200 workers went on for a year.
Steppe Cement chairman Malcolm Brown to retire
Written by Global Cement staff
27 May 2015
Kazakhstan: Steppe Cement's Malcolm Brown will retire as the non-executive chairman on 28 May 2015 due to health reasons. He does not intend to stand for re-election in the forthcoming AGM. He has served on the board for more than six years, since December 2008 and is a member of the audit and remuneration committees. Brown remains as a shareholder of Steppe Cement. The company is currently searching for an appropriate candidate to replace Brown.
Holcim and Lafarge finalise LafargeHolcim executive committee and CRH deal
Written by Global Cement staff
27 May 2015
Europe: Lafarge and Holcim have completed the appointments for the future executive committee of LafargeHolcim following a recommendation by Eric Olsen, future CEO of the combined group. The future executive committee, under the leadership of Eric Olsen, is composed of:
- Finance - Thomas Aebischer, currently in charge of finance at Holcim;
- Integration, organisation and human resources - Jean-Jacques Gauthier, currently in charge of finance at Lafarge;
- Europe - Roland Köhler, currently in charge of Europe at Holcim;
- Asia Pacific - Ian Thackwray, currently in charge of East Asia Pacific and trading at Holcim;
- Middle-East Africa - Saâd Sebbar, currently in charge of Morocco at Lafarge;
- North America - Alain Bourguignon, previously in charge of North America and the UK at Holcim;
- Latin America - Pascal Casanova, currently in charge of France at Lafarge;
- Performance and cost - Urs Bleisch, currently in charge of corporate functions at Holcim;
- Growth and innovation - Gérard Kuperfarb, currently in charge of innovation at Lafarge.
Following appropriate information-consultation processes with relevant works councils and employee representatives, Lafarge and Holcim have now entered a binding agreement with CRH regarding the sale of several assets. The assets include operations mainly in Europe, Canada, Brazil and the Philippines with an enterprise value of Euro6.5bn. The divestments remain subject to the completion of the merger including the acceptance of Holcim's public exchange offer by the shareholders of Lafarge. The merger is expected to close in July 2015.
India: Burnpur Cement started trial production from its new grinding plant at Patratu in Jharkhand on 23 May 2015. Full production, including clinker, will start from June 2015 when the clinker line is completed.