Cement News tagged: Corporate
Three potential candidates for PPC chief executive role
PPC is considering Darryll Castle as one of three candidates to become CEO of South Africa's biggest cement maker, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Castle, former chief executive of commodity trader Trafigura's mining division, was appointed as a non-executive director of PPC on 17 October. PPC is seeking a replacement for Ketso Gordhan, who resigned in September after his ...
Ash Grove announces new Chanute plant manager
Ash Grove Cement Company announced Alan C Finch as the new plant manager of its Chanute works in Kansas, USA, effective immediately. “We are pleased that Alan will assume the leadership role of our Chanute plant. This plant opened in 1908 and is the longest running plant in our fleet of eight plants in the United States,” said Mike Hrizuk, senior vice president of manufacturing. “We are eager...
ARM secures loan to finance expansion
ARM Cement has secured a KES4.5bn (US$50m) loan from CFC Stanbic Bank to finance its expansion plans. “The credit adds to our existing facilities and will be used in current and new projects,” said ARM’s chief executive Pradeep Paunrana told Business Daily in an interview on Tuesday. ARM Cement opened its new 1.2Mta clinker plant in Maweni, Tanga, in November 2014, involving an investmen...
Argos to not bid for Lafarge/Holcim Brazilian assets
Cementos Argos has decided not to not bid for the Brazilian assets that Lafarge and Holcim have put up for sale ahead of their planned merger. Colombia’s largest cement producer has informed the Superintendencia Financiera that it does not see such a purchase as being likely to generate the value its investments would expect. Argos had been in consultation with Itau Unibanco concerning a p...
St-Gobain to acquire controlling stake in Sika
St-Gobain is buying a controlling stake in constructive chemicals specialist Sika for EUR2.3bn. The group is also launching a competitive bidding process to dispose of the remaining portion of the its packing business (Verallia Europe). St-Gobain is is proposing the acquisition of a 16 per cent family stake in Sika, which controls 52 per cent of group voting rights, meaning St-Gobain will fu...
Changes in Holcim Ltd's senior management
Jacques Bourgon, currently head of OH&S, senior advisor to the CEO and member of Holcim Ltd's senior management, has decided to pursue other challenges outside the group. He will be leaving Holcim on 31 December 2014, according to a statement by the Swiss cement major. "Holcim thanks Jacques Bourgon for the valuable contributions he has made to the success of the Group in various roles during...
Italy’s Competition & Market Authority awards three-star legality rating to Italcementi
Italy’s competition and market authority, AGCM (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato), has awarded Italcementi a top three-star legality rating. The Legality Rating is an evaluation of a company’s legal compliance and the quality of its corporate governance and commitment to correct, sustainable business management. In this sense, it is also an enviable opportunity for firms to ap...
Kenya: Bill Lay reappointed chairman of EAPCC
President Uhuru Kenyatta has reappointed Bill Lay as chairman of East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) for a three-year term. The Head of State, through the latest gazette notice, extended the term of Mr Lay and backdated it to November 7 when it had lapsed. “In exercise of the powers conferred by section 6(1)(a) of the State Corporations Act, I, Uhuru Kenyatta... re-appoint William L...
AfDB mobilises US$60m loan for DRC cement project
The Nyumba Ya Akiba Cement project in the DR of Congo marked a significant milestone last week with the loan signing of US$135m. The 1.18Mta greenfield plant is a 50/50 joint venture between leading Pakistan cement producer Lucky Cement Ltd and Groupe Rawji, one of the DRC’s largest conglomerates. The project has attracted financial support from the African Development Bank (AfDB), Eksp...
Sri Lanka: Cabral new chairman of Tokyo Cement
Dr Harsha Cabral, a senior counsel with 27 years' experience in the fields of company Law, Intellectual Property Law, Commercial Arbitration and Commercial Law & International Trade Law, has been appointed as chairman of Tokyo Cement (Lanka) PLC, effective 1 December 2014. Tokyo Cement Company (Lanka) PLC is a Sri Lanka-based company engaged in the manufacturing and selling of cement and read...
Italcementi obtains EBRD loan for plant revamp
The Italcementi Group has signed an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) granting it a loan for approximately EUR20m to fund the modernisation of the Shymkent cement plant in southern Kazakhstan. In addition to the loan, the EBRD will make an investment of approximately EUR4m in Shymkentcement, for an equity stake of around 21 per cent. The project, arr...
South Africa: PPC to reshuffle board
PPC and its investors have agreed to reshuffle the company's board, calling off a special shareholder meeting scheduled for next Monday. “Shareholders are hereby notified that following discussions initiated by [Executive Chairman] Bheki Sibiya with a number of shareholders, the board of directors of PPC has decided to embark on a process that is much more likely to achieve the best outcome...
US$125m CAF loan signed for Guayaquil project
Holcim Ecuador SA has signed a loan contract for US$125m with the Latin American development bank, CAF. The funds will finance the modernisation of Holcim’s Guayaquil plant. The upgrade programme will see clinker production capacity rise to 3.4Mta, enabling to replace current clinker imports by domestic production and reduce the country’s currency outflow. In addition, some 20 per cent of...
UNACEM completes Ecuador acquisition
Peruvian cement producer Union Andina de Cementos SAA (UNACEM) confirmed that it has completed the purchase of Lafarge’s cement operations in Ecuador. "We are pleased with the closing of the transaction, which represents an important step in our growth strategy,” Carlos Ugás, managing director of Unacem. The company closed the acquisition, initially announced in May this year, for approximat...
Buzzi Unicem finalises Uralcement acquisition
Buzzi Unicem, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Dyckerhoff GmbH, has completed the acquisition of a 100 per cent interest in Uralcement, Russia, from Lafarge. Uralcement is located near the town of Korkino, about 40km south of Chelyabinks. The wet-process plant has a capacity of 1.1Mta. The acquisition lifts Buzzi Unicem's production capacity in Russia to approximately 4.5Mta.
Eagle Materials announces appointment of COO
Eagle Materials Inc has appointed Michael Haack as Chief Operating Officer (COO), reporting to Steve Rowley, president and CEO. “The COO position is a newly-created one in response to the company's significant growth and continued strategic expansion in construction and energy-related markets,” Eagle Materials said in a statement. Mr Haack joins Eagle from Halliburton Energy Services, wher...