Displaying items by tag: GCW179

China has admitted once again that its cement industry is plagued by over-capacity. State news agency Xinhua came clean this week as it reported that 103 production lines have been closed for the winter months.

The principal reason given for the winter shutdown was prevention of air pollution with resolution of overcapacity presented as a handy secondary. With long term plans in place to reduce overcapacity through industry mergers, demolitions and bans on new plants this is one more offshoot from the very public problems that smog and industrial pollution has given the Chinese government.

The policy follows a similar shutdown in China's far-western state of Xinjian that has been implemented since 1 November 2014. Xinjian is away from China's main cement production heartland in the south and east of the country. The idea here is to stagger winter production from cement kilns that use coal to avoid flue gas emissions rising when coal consumption for heating also rises. Since cement consumption by the construction industry is lower in the winter, a stoppage at this time of year should affect the cement producers less. Proposals have also been made to include Inner Mongolia and Hebei into the scheme.

The three provinces in question now - Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Jilin – represent 80Mt/yr or 6% of China's total cement production capacity from 28 cement plants, according to the Global Cement Directory 2014. This is broadly in line with the proportion of national population the three provinces hold.

Back in 2012 the National Development and Reform Commission suggested that national cement capacity utilisation was 69%. Local media in China have been reporting that currently Xinjian uses 60%. Western commentators reckon that China uses only 50% of the cement industry's total production capacity. By contrast India, the world's second biggest cement producer after China, has been lamenting this year that capacity utilisation had fallen below 70%. Worldwide, excluding China, capacity utilisation rates have been estimated to be just below 70% in 2014.

Plummeting particulate matter counts are great for Beijing's cyclists and their continued goodwill towards the government. However, the implications are bad for the producers who are affected and the associated industries. As one Chinese equipment manufacturer commented on Global Cement's LinkedIn Group, "...many small manufacturers of cement plants in China will go bankrupt." Unfortunately this too is also in line with the country's strategy to reign in its cement industry through industry consolidation. It may yet turn out sunny for the state planners... once the smog clears.

US: Eagle Materials has announced the appointment of Michael Haack as chief operating officer (COO), reporting to Steve Rowley, president and CEO. The COO position is a newly-created one in response to the company's significant growth and continued strategic expansion in construction and energy-related markets.

Michael joins Eagle from Halliburton Energy Services, where he enjoyed a 17 year career with successively important operating positions, most recently with the management of Global Operations for Sperry Drilling, a company in the drilling and evaluation division of Halliburton with operations in every major global oil and gas market. He was awarded a Master of Business Administration degree from Rice University and holds a Master of Science degree from Texas A&M University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University, both in Industrial Engineering.

"We are proud to have such a high-calibre and experienced individual as Michael joining the Eagle team," said Rowley. "His placement in this newly created position is timely given our growth progress and strategic aspirations. Haack's experience will be especially valuable given our growth into energy-related markets, most notably in frac-sand and specialty oil well casing cement. This represents a significant step in the expansion of our strong operating leadership team and is aimed at ensuring the long-term continuity of Eagle's enviable performance track record."

UAE: After more than 14 years with HeidelbergCement, Kerim Tunçay has been offered the position of general manager at Union Cement Norcem (UCN). Union Cement Norcem (UCN) is a joint venture between Union Cement Company (UCC) of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE and Norcem of HeidelbergCement. It was set up in 1980 to market and sell the American Petroleum Institute (API) certified oil well cement, concentrating on export markets.

Tunçay, who took charge of his new assignment from 1 September 2014, will be in charge of all domestic and export sales of cement and clinker of UCC in addition to the sales of oil well cement.

Born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1972, Tunçay has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from University of Saarland, in Saarbrucken, Germany and a Marketing Diploma from University of California, Berkeley. Trained as an International Trader Candidate, Tunçay started his career with the cement industry in 2000 at HeidelbergCement Trading (HCT) in Istanbul.

Indonesia: The Indonesian government has selected PT Semen Indonesia president director Dwi Soetjipto as the next president director and CEO of the country's state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, following interim chief Muhamed Husen, who took over on 1 October 2014 from Karen Agustiawan. As of 28 November 2014, Soetjitpto is leading Pertamina.

Soetjipto managed PT Semen Indonesia's troubled unit, PT Semen Padang, between 2003 and 2005, where his success in overcoming widespread worker's opposition to the government's plan to sell a controlling stake in the firm to Mexico's Cemex landed him the top post in Semen Indonesia.

Soetjipto gained a Bachelor Degree in Engineering from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology in Surabaya, East Java, a Masters in Management from the Andalas University in West Sumatra and a PhD in Management from the University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java.

Ukraine: HeidelbergCement Ukraine has appointed Olena Kovaliova as Deputy Chairperson of the Management Board to replace David Andreas Johannes von Lingen. The company's Supervisory Board decided to terminate von Lingen's authority on 25 November 2014 ahead of the original scheduled date of 31 December 2014, according to a company statement. Von Lingen had been in port for three and a half years. The Supervisory Board appointed Kovaliova as the Board Deputy Chairperson from 1 January 2015 for three years until 1 January 2018.

India: Saurashtra Cement Ltd has announced that Anupama Pai, who was appointed as vice president (legal) and company secretary from 1 October 2014, has resigned with effect from 30 November 2014.