People

Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) has elected Mohammad Amirul Haque as its president for the 2025 - 2027 term. He will succeed Alamgir Kabir in the post, according to the Daily Observer newspaper.

Haque is the managing director of Premier Cement Mills. He holds over four decades of management experience in sectors including cement, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), petrochemicals, shipping, agro-processing, edible oil refining and real estate. He is the founder and managing director of Seacom Group, and currently works as the president of the LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh (LOAB). Haque has also held directorial roles at both the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI). He is an alumni of the University of Chittagong.

Portugal: Cimpor has appointed Mário Lopes as the director of its Alhandra cement plant.

Lopes started working for Cimpor in 1991 as a technician in the manufacturing and packaging department at the Alhandra plant. During his 25 tenure at the company, he has held various jobs including running the Loulé and Alhandra cement plants and managing the group’s industrial leadership in China. Prior to joining Cimpor, Lopes worked as General Manager for Supplies at Samarco Mineração and was a board member of the Guilman-Amorim HPP Consortium. He has also worked for Ternium-Thyssenkrupp CSA, Usiminas and BHP Billiton.

Netherlands: Aumund Holding has appointed Pieter Dekkers as its chief financial officer (CFO). He has been working as interim CFO since February 2025.

Dekkers worked in CFO positions from 1997 to 2024 at companies including TIBO EnergyHub software, AM-Flow and De Meeuw. He also set up his own consultancy firm ValueIQ in 2014. Earlier in his career Dekkers worked for DAF Trucks. He holds a graduate degree in industrial engineering and management from the Technical University Eindhoven and a postgraduate qualification as a Registered Controller from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Greece: Titan has appointed John Ioannou as its Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He will first join Titan as a member of its Group Executive and Management Committees in July 2025. He will later succeed Michael Colakides as Group CFO on 1 November 2025. Colakides will continue in his role as managing director of Titan, chair of the management committee and will remain as a member of the Titan and Titan America boards of directors.

Ioannou is a Cypriot national with 30 years of experience in finance, strategy and management roles in various industries in Europe, the Middle East and the US. Notably, he worked for PepsiCo for 16 years, becoming its CFO in Russia. He also held Group CFO roles at Abdul Latif Jameel and AW Rostamani Group in the UAE.

Ioannou holds an undergraduate degree in marketing and a master’s of business administration (MBA) qualification from Florida State University. He is a qualified chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Saudi Arabia: Al Jouf Cement has appointed Qais Hussein Balas as its managing director. Other recent personnel changes at the company include the resignation of the CEO, Abdulkarim bin Mohammed Al-Nuhair, with effect at the end of his contract, on 21 August 2025. In addition, Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Falih has been appointed as chair in place of Abdullah bin Oudah Al-Ghubain.

Qais Balas holds over 25 years of management experience. Previous roles include the CEO of the Al-Manaseer cement plant in Jordan, the chief financial officer of GMS Group and as a Senior Internal Auditor at Fastlink. He has also worked as the Director of Investments and Business Development at Hikma Group.