September 2024
India: Toshali Cement has appointed Dhiren Nayak as its Vice President – Works.
Prior to this, Nayak worked as the plant head of an unspecified cement plant in Odisha in 2023, having earlier worked as a cement sector consultant. He notably held the position of Head of Operations at the Saudi Cement Company in Saudi Arabia from 2013 to 2019 and was a Technical Works Manager at Fujairah Cement Industries in the UAE from 2010. Earlier in his career he worked for FLSmidth, Lafarge Cement, Tata Steel and OCL India.
Toshali Cement operates an integrated plant at Ampavalli in Odisha and a grinding plant at Bayyavaram in Andhra Pradesh.
George Conners Delgado appointed as Sales Manager Americas – Pyro & Grinding Technologies at FLSmidth 10 January 2024
US: Denmark-based FLSmidth has appointed George Conners Delgado as Sales Manager Americas – Pyro & Grinding Technologies. This follows his previous roles at the company based in Peru, where he became Sales Manager - Pyro-process Division - South & Central America in 2022. Before this, Delgado worked for ThyssenKrupp as a Service Sales Engineer in Peru and as a Project Engineer for Relansa in Venezuela.
Prashant Jamadar appointed as Senior General Manager – Marketing at ThyssenKrupp Industries India 10 January 2024
India: ThyssenKrupp Industries India has appointed Prashant Jamadar appointed as Senior General Manager – Marketing. He has worked for ThyssenKrupp Industries India since 2006 in a variety of marketing roles. Jamadar holds a qualification in mechanical engineering from the G M Choudhary Engineering Collage and a master’s of business administration (MBA) degree from the Indo-German Training Centre in Mumbai.
Austria: Australia-based FCT Combustion has appointed Átila Soares as its Sales Manager for Europe and Africa. He will be based at the company’s office in Vienna. Soares previously worked for Aumund Group in Brazil in a variety of roles since 2005. The latest position was as a Sales Manager based in São Paulo. He also holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the Faculdade de Engenharia Industrial (FEI) in Brazil.
US: Sublime Systems has acquired a site in Holyoke, Massachusetts, to build its first commercial-scale cement plant. The planned unit is expected to be commissioned in 2026, create 70 jobs, and will eventually have a capacity of 30,000t/yr. The selected site previously housed paper mills and is powered by local hydroelectric resources. The project is also being supported by a state tax credit from the Economic Development Incentive Program and local Tax Increment Financing from the City of Holyoke to offset property taxes. The commercial-scale plant is being developed as a stepping-stone before building a larger 1Mt/yr plant in the future.
Sublime Systems chief executive officer and co-founder Leah Ellis said “The same qualities that made Holyoke a world-class industrial hub in the past perfectly position it to now be the home for clean tech manufacturing of the future.” She continued, “The Water Street site exemplifies that in its ample space, industrial zoning, access to renewable hydroelectricity, utilities and even rail.”
Sublime Systems is commercialising an electrolysis cement production process that will manufacture cement at ambient temperature from a variety of calcium sources. Its Sublime Cement product received an ASTM C1157 designation in September 2023. The company has raised over US$50m from a consortium of climate technology investors, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) funding and strategic investor Siam Cement Group.
Bhavya Cements merges into Anjani Portland Cement 10 January 2024
India: Anjani Portland Cement has completed the amalgamation of Bhavya Cements into itself. Bhavya Cements operates the 1.4Mt/yr Bhavya cement plant in Andhra Pradesh.
Saudi Arabia: Al Jouf Cement Company has awarded a contract to Rabou’ Al Taybeh for the export and sale of its clinker. Local press has reported that the contract has a value of US$8m and a duration of six months, subject to renewal.
Spanish Egyptian Cement Factory finds four possible buyers 10 January 2024
Egypt: Saad El Din Group affiliate Spanish Egyptian Cement Factory says that it has four foreign entities interested in placing bids to acquire it. Arab Finance News has reported that two of the entities in question are based in Gulf countries. Saad El Din Group is reportedly withdrawing from other industries outside of its core petroleum products business.
Spanish Egyptian Cement Factory controls the El Raswa grinding plant in Port Said Public Free Zone.
Cembureau sets manifesto for industrial transformation 10 January 2024
EU: Cembureau has published its manifesto for industrial transformation for the European Parliament’s 2024-2029 legislative term. The manifesto calls for an ambitious EU agenda focused on the implementation of the European Green Deal along five key lines: 1 - turbo-charging EU and national funding and developing national industrial decarbonisation plans; 2 – Rolling out the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to create a level playing field for EU industries; 3 – Building a pan-European CO2 capture network and moving towards circular carbon feedstocks; 4 – Placing circular economy at the heart of industrial decarbonisation; 5 – Enhancing the EU buildings’ agenda to significantly cut emissions.
Cembureau said “The European cement industry was one of the first sectors to present a 2050 Carbon Neutrality Roadmap following the publication of the European Green Deal. The past five years were marked by the development of a comprehensive EU legislative framework and the launch of significant decarbonisation investments in our industry. Now, with the deployment of carbon-neutral cements within our grasp, we need to implement transformative measures on innovation, infrastructure, public acceptance, digitalisation and skills development.”
Vicem’s cement and clinker volumes drop by 18% in 2023 10 January 2024
Vietnam: State-owned Vicem sold 22.6Mt of cement and clinker in 2023, down by 18% year-on-year from 2022 levels. Việt Nam News has reported that the producer exported 2.85Mt of cement and clinker, 85% of its target volumes for the year. For 2024, Vicem aims to achieve full-year sales of 24.3Mt, up by 7.7%.