Global Cement News

Switzerland: LafargeHolcim has appointed Ron Wirahadiraksa as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and member of the Executive Committee. Ron Wirahadiraksa will succeed Thomas Aebischer, who is pursuing new opportunities outside the group. Ron Wirahadiraksa will join LafargeHolcim on 1 December 2015.

Ron Wirahadiraksa is currently Executive Vice President and CFO of Philips, a group he joined in 1987. After working in the Netherlands, Greece, Malaysia and the US, he became CFO at LG Philips LCD in South Korea in 1999. During that time, as President and CFO, he shared operating leadership with the Korean CEO. He became CFO at Philips Healthcare in 2008. In 2011, he took over as CFO for the Philips Group and played a pivotal role in the transformation of the company. Ron Wirahadiraksa was born in the Netherlands in 1960 and graduated with a doctorate in Business Economics from The Free University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

"I would like to thank Thomas Aebischer for his contribution to the group and I wish him every success in his future endeavors," said Eric Olsen, CEO of LafargeHolcim. "I am delighted to welcome Ron to LafargeHolcim. Ron is a highly-skilled and experienced CFO with a multicultural background. He comes with vast experience in transforming business models, driving performance and in taking value creation to the next level."

"Attracting an international CFO of Ron Wirahadiraksa's caliber is a great opportunity for LafargeHolcim and I am pleased to see him joining the group," said Wolfgang Reitzle, Statutory Chairman of LafargeHolcim. "Under the leadership of Eric Olsen, we have a diverse and strong management team that will be key to the success of our transformation journey to create superior value for our shareholders."

India: Sagar Cements produced 122,642t in September 2015, up by 7% from 114,693t in September 2014. Cement sales grew by 6% to 115,225t in September 2015 from 108,611t in September 2014.

UK: A pair of peregrine falcons nesting in a disused building at the former Westbury Lafarge Cement plant in Wiltshire will be protected even if the buildings are demolished, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

Owners of the site, Tarmac (now part of CRH), recently submitted a Prior Notification to Wiltshire Council to have the area demolished so that it could be used for other purposes. "We've worked with Tarmac nationally and we're working with them on this to ensure that the birds are not dramatically affected by any development work at the site," said Phil Sheldrake, a conservation officer from the RSPB. "They don't have a nest in the chimney, but they are nesting in another building on the site for the first time this year and have been roosting on the chimney. We have to make sure that if the buildings are demolished we can provide an alternative for them, such as a nest box that could be placed close to the site until a new building is built." Peregrine falcons are strictly protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act after their numbers went into steep decline in the 1980s.

Spain: Mexico's Carlos Slim has appointed Carlos Jarque and Juan Rodriguez Torres as proprietary directors of Cementos Portland Valderrivas. After the appointments, Carlos Slim controls more than half of the board of directors of Cementos Portland Valderrivas, with Gerrardo Kuri as CEO. Spanish builder FCC has three representatives on the board of Cementos Portland Valderrivas, namely Esther Koplowitz, Alicia Alcocer and Carmen Alcocer Koplowitz. FCC is the second biggest shareholder in Cementos Portland Valderrivas.

Iran/Denmark: Denmark's FLSmidth has selected Iranian Ehdas San'at Company as its representative for the implementation of projects and services in Iran.

Managing Director of Ehdas San'at Morteza Hashempour and the Director of FLSmidth, Thomas Schulz, have signed a scientific, technical and economic cooperation memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the cement industry in Tehran. Ehdas San'at has agreed to a close cooperation with FLSmidth in the field of producing related equipment and constructing new projects, as well as the optimisation and reconstruction of existing cement plant.

Following the recent agreement between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) group of powers in Vienna on 14 June 2015, Iran has been inundated with offers from foreign companies. Top Iranian officials have repeatedly said that they accept offers only from foreign applicants that make investments in Iran and share technological know-how with the country.

Earlier in September 2015, Iranian Deputy Energy Minister Alireza Daemi said that companies from several European and Arab countries have declared deep interest in broadening ties with Iran in the water and power industries. "Companies from Austria, Germany, France, Italy, as well as some Arab countries, have voiced readiness to finance projects in various sectors in Iran," said Daemi. "We seek to increase productivity and efficiency in the domestic power sector by exchanging technological experience and knowledge with foreigners."