Displaying items by tag: Malaysia

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia has appointed Yeoh Khoon Cheng as its interim chief executive officer (CEO).

Yeoh started his career with Deloitte Kassim Chan in 1979. He joined Lafarge Malaysia in 1987 as finance manager and has held various positions involving business development, mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance activities and acted as company secretary from 1990 to 1998. He was appointed as executive director and chief financial officer (CFO) in 1999. From mid-2011 to the end of 2015, he was the CFO for Lafarge Cement China. Latterly, Yeoh was the CFO of Huaxin Cement in China from 2016 to mid-2017. He is a member of the Malaysian of Institute of Accountants and the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) has launched a new Portland Limestone Cement (PLC) product. The 32.5N strength product is targeted for low-rise concrete structures such as single storey residential, office and commercial buildings. It is also intended for plastering, bricklaying and for use in the construction of drains and rural or kampong roads. CMS has also been conducting trials with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) on testing it as a binder for soil stabilisation. The new cement type will compliment CMS’ existing Portland Cement 42.5N product.

CMS operates one integrated cement plant and two grinding plants. Both grinding plants, at Pending in Kuching and Bintulu, have direct access to ports allowing entry to export markets for bagged and bulk product. The state-owned cement producer also operates two bulk marine terminals at Sibu and Miri.

Malaysia: Gebr. Pfeiffer has registered a company in Malaysia. The German engineering company originally opened an office in the country in 2016 and it has now established a private limited company to further support its clients in Southeast Asia. The new company held its official opening in early August 2018 and it has seven members of staff.

Gebr. Pfeiffer Malaysia will offer presales, technical and service support from its office in Kuala Lumpur. Gebr. Pfeiffer Malaysia will also maintain one of four global spare parts centres offering shorter delivery times for critical spare and wear parts.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS) has appointed Abdul Rashid bin Abdul Manaf as it group chairman with effect from 1 October 2018. He succeeds interim group chairman Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, who returns to the post of deputy group chairman.

Abdul Rashid started his career in 1970 in the Malaysia Judicial and Legal Service and served as magistrate, president, sessions court and Senior Federal Counsel to the Income Tax Department. He left government service in 1997 to pursue his career as a practicing lawyer and subsequently in business. Notably he became one of the principal legal advisers to the Renong Conglomerate, with involvement in various Federal Government transactions.

He has held key positions in local corporations, including chairman of S P Setia, Loh & Loh Corporation, Pohmay Holdings and SMIS Corporation. Abdul Rashid also set up Eco World Development Group, a property development company.

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia has allocated US$19.5m to spend on efficiency upgrades, including installing bag filters at its three plants. The project has started already with the commissioning of a new bag filter at its Kanthan plant for an investment of around US$5m. The upgrade to its Kanthan plant follows the installation of a vertical cement mill in 2016 at a cost of US$44m.

Malaysia: Repair costs at Cahya Mata Sarawak’s (CMS) Kuching cement plant have reduced the profits of the company’s cement division. The planned maintenance period in January and February 2018 was the first major shutdown carried out by the group since it purchased the integrated unit in 2007. The division’s performance was also hit by an increase in the price of imported clinker due to a reported ‘tight supply’ in the international market. The division’s profit before tax fell by 17% year-on-year to US$9.56m in the first half of 2018 from US$11.5m in the same period in 2017. However, its revenue grew by 8%.

Overall, CMS reported revenue growth of 15% to US$183m and a pre-tax profit increase of 32% to US$42.9m. It attributed the strong performance to its other subsidiaries.

Malaysia: A US$70m contract with Lafarge Malaysia to supply cement for the East Coast Rail Link project has been suspended by China Communications Construction pending a government review. The deal was originally announced in March 2018. The cement producer said that the suspension is not expected to have any significant financial impact its operations in the period up to the suspension, as completed work shall be compensated for in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract. However, going forward the company could not rule out any negative financial impact following the government review of the project.Lafarge Malaysia railway supply contract suspended

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia has appointed Mario Bastian Gross as its chief executive officer (CEO). He will take up his new post on 1 April 2018. He succeeds Thierry Legrand who has been in post since mid-2015.

Gross, a German national aged 39 years, joins Lafarge Malaysia from Sika. He started his career with Sika in 2000 and has global experience with roles across Germany, China, Thailand and Switzerland. He was Asia Pacific Head of Procurement from 2007 to 2011, after which he was appointed Managing Director of Sika in Thailand. In 2013, he took the role Head of Global Procurement, Quality & Sustainability of Sika based in Switzerland.

He holds an MBA from the University of Strathclyde in the UK and a Bachelor of Economics from the VWA Koblenz in Germany.

Malaysia: Lafarge Malaysia has won a US$68.9m contract from China Communications Construction to supply cement for the East Coast Rail Link project. The contract will run until the end of 2019 with options for renewal by a further two years.

Malaysia: Cahya Mata Sarawak's (CMS) sales from its cement division have fallen in 2017 due to lower sales volumes of cement and concrete. However, the cement producer said that the average production cost per tonne of cement had fallen due to cheaper coal prices and cheaper imported clinker. Its sales revenue fell by 7.5% year-on-year to US$133m in 2017 from US$144m in 2016. Its operating profit fell by 3.5% to US$25.9m from US$26.8m. The division also benefitted from the opening of the Mambong grinding plant in late 2016.