18 April 2019

Switzerland: The Board of Directors of LafargeHolcim will propose that its shareholders approve the appointment of three new Members of the Board, after acknowledgement of the departure of two current Board members, at the Annual General Meeting on 15 May 2019.

The Board of Directors will nominate Colin Hall, Naina Lal Kidwai and Claudia Sender Ramirez for election as new Board Members. Nassef Sawiris and Gérard Lamarche have decided not to stand for re-election.

As the Head of Investments of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, a major shareholder of LafargeHolcim, Colin Hall will add extensive experience in international finance to the Board. As one of India's most successful businesswomen, Naina Lal Kidwai held a number of senior leadership positions at ANZ Grindleys Bank and HSBC in India and Asia Pacific. She has a particular interest in environmental topics. Claudia Sender Ramirez will bring to the Board her wide-ranging marketing and emerging market experience from leadership positions at LATAM Airlines Group and Whirlpool in Latin America.

Beat Hess, Chairman of the Board of Directors at LafargeHolcim, said, "On behalf of the entire Board I would like to thank Nassef Sawiris and Gérard Lamarche for their important contribution to the success of our company over the past years. I am very delighted that we are proposing three new members whose unique experience will complement the expertise of our existing Board members. It is a particular pleasure for me that with the new nominations we will be able to further increase the geographical and gender diversity of our Board."

All other current members of the Board of Directors will be proposed for re-election at the Annual General Meeting: Beat Hess (Chairman), Oscar Fanjul (Vice-Chairman), Paul Desmarais, Jr., Patrick Kron, Adrian Loader, Jürg Oleas, Hanne Birgitte Breinbjerg Sørensen and Dieter Spälti.

Spain: Cement consumption in Catalonia between February 2018 and February 2019 reached 1.76Mt, 4.7% less than a year earlier, according to regional association Ciment Català. The president of the organisation, Salvador Fernández Capo, stressed that this situation could be explained by economic uncertainty, rising electricity prices and a lack of construction projects in the region.

Iran/Afghanistan: Exports of cement from Iran to Afghanistan have increased following the resumption of US-led sanctions on Iran. Speaking on Afghanistan’s Tolo News TV, Janagha Navid, the spokesman of Afghanistan's Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said that Afghanistan imports 80,000t/yr of cement, while stressing that the country’s domestic cement production capacity could increase to 420,000t/yr.

Navid added that cement imports from Pakistan had decreased, while imports from Iran had risen, due to depreciation of the Iranian Rial against foreign currencies. He further highlighted that Afghan customers prefer Iranian cement over Pakistani cement, citing quality considerations. In 2018, Iran exported US$127m-worth of cement to Afghanistan, broadly similar to imports from Pakistan, which came to US$132m.