US: Jose Llontop has joined Giant Cement as its new CEO and president. He joins the company with 14 years of experience in the industry. Previously he has held senior level positions at Cemex, including being the regional president for a US$1bn sales operation for countries in Central Eastern Europe and being the president of Cemex Egypt.

"Llontop is a professional with a long and successful career in the cement industry, who has held positions of high responsibility in different countries and achieved excellent results," said Juan Bejar, chairman and CEO of Cementos Portland Valderrivas, the Spanish company that owns Giant.

Llontop received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, completed his MBA at Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA, and attended the Harvard Business School's General Manager Program in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Llontop served as chairman of the Cemex supervisory board in Austria and as vice chairman of the Cemex board in Egypt. Since 2010 Llontop was the president of Saudi Readymix, and the senior vice president of Building Materials for Alturki Group in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia.