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World: The Biennial Unified International Technical Conference on Refractories (UNITECR) has appointed Daniel Llaguno as its president. He succeeds Mauro Cueva who has resigned due to health issues. Llaguno was the vice-president of UNITECR 2025. He is also the CEO of NUTEC Group, a company that produces industrial heating products.

Jessica Fernández has been appointed as the vice-president of UNITECR 2025. She is the Administrative Vice President at Mexico-based WM Refractories and has worked for the company for over 20 years.

UNITECR 2025 will take place on 27 - 30 October 2025 in Cancun, Mexico.

Peru: Cementos Pacasmayo has appointed Ely Hayashi as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with effect from 1 April 2025. She will succeed Manuel Ferreyros in the post, who has been CFO since 2008.

Hayashi has worked for Cementos Pacasmayo since 2005, when she started as a Management Control Analyst intern. She subsequently became Head of Management Control in 2011 and then the Central Manager of Finance and Management Control in 2022. She holds a degree in business administration from the Universidad del Pacífico in Lima and an International Master of Business Administration from the IE Business School.

China: Ji Youhong has retired as the chair of China Resources Cement as he has reached retirement age. He has also stepped down as an executive director, the chair of the company’s strategy and investment committee and the chair of its nomination committee. CEO Jing Shiqin will chair the board on an interim basis until a successor is appointment.

Ji was appointed as the chair of the board of China Resources Cement in 2022 and an executive director in 2016. He originally joined the group in 2003 and has worked in various positions including the general manager of various cement and concrete subsidiaries, the marketing controller from 2008 to 2012, the Regional General Manager (Guangxi) from 2012 to 2016, and the CEO from 2016 to 2023. JI holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a master’s degree in inorganic and non-metallic materials. He is currently the vice chair of the China Building Materials Federation and the executive vice chair of the China Cement Association. Previously he was the Vice President of the Eighth Council of the China Concrete and Cement-Based Products Association.

Ireland: CRH has appointed Alan Connolly as its Interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The move follows the appointment of Jim Mintern, the current CFO, as Group CEO from January 2025. Recruitment is ongoing for a permanent CFO.

Connolly is a chartered accountant who holds over three decades of finance experience working at CRH. He has held several senior finance roles across the company’s European and Americas businesses. He most recently worked as the Director of Strategic Finance. Prior to this he was the Finance and Performance Director of Europe Materials, CFO of Global Building Products and Director of Group Finance. Before working for CRH, Connolly was an auditor at KPMG.

Finland: Tana Oy has appointed Anu Söderena as Manager, Nordics & Baltics. Her responsibilities include leading and developing the sales and rental business of Tana Rental's machine portfolio, as well as coordinating maintenance and spare parts operations.

Söderena previously worked as a Business Development Manager at Kuusakoski Recycling, where she was responsible for managing a recycling plant investment project, among other roles. She holds a master’s degree in materials engineering and a master of business administration qualification.