Global Cement News

India: Sunil Kumar has resigned as the managing director of RCC Cements. He said he was unable to devote his time to company business.

Finland: Coolbrook has appointed Joonas Rauramo as its chief executive officer. In this role he will be responsible for overseeing the transition from a research and development focused organisation to a commercial-led business with the aim of partnering with the large companies in petrochemical, steel and cement sectors. Rauramo succeeds Harri Johannesdahl in the role, who has chosen to take a less hands-on role at the business and will stay on in an advisory capacity.

Rauramo joined Coolbrook in late 2021 as its Executive Vice President, Strategy and Industrial Partnerships. Prior to this he worked for the Finland-based energy company Fortum for over a decade.

Finland-based Coolbrook is a technology and engineering company that is developing processes to replace the burning of fossil fuels in major industrial sectors. Its RDH has potential applications in cement, steel and chemical production process. Its Roto Dynamic Reactor (RDR) is intended to eliminate CO₂ emissions from the steam cracking process used in the production of plastic.

Look out for an interview with Joonas Rauramo in the September 2022 issue of Global Cement Magazine

Egypt: Qalaa Holdings recorded first-quarter 2022 sales of US$991m, more than double its figure for the first quarter of 2021. Its loss during the quarter was US$30.9m, up by 22% year-on-year from US$25.4m. Its subsidiary ASEC Holding Group increased its sales by 46% year-on-year to US$53m. The cement company attributed the growth to the 'strong performance' of its integrated cement plant in Sudan.

Daily News Egypt has reported that Qalaa Holdings is currently prioritising the on-going restructuring of its debts.

Switzerland: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies has launched a new joint venture with a Switzerland-based construction industry partner. Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies will hold a minority stake in the new subsidiary, which will produce its reduced-CO₂ clinkerless cement at an upcoming plant. The producer says that the unit will apply the vertical production model of its existing H2 plant in France.

Co-founders of Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmann said "After signing our first contract outside France more than a year ago, we are proud to accelerate our international development through a licensing model for Hoffmann Green technologies and processes. The opening of this first subsidiary in Switzerland proves the attractiveness of our carbon-free solution without clinker outside our borders, and constitutes a structuring step in the development of Hoffmann Green."

Belgium: Switzerland-based Holcim has agreed to acquire façade and external insulation systems producer Cantillana. Cantillana employs 200 people across nine plants in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Its forecast full-year sales are Euro80m in 2022. Holcim says that the move is in line with its Strategy 2025 - Accelerating Green Growth target of expanding its solutions and products unit to 30% of group sales.