Philippines: Holcim Philippines has appointed Edwin Villas as Senior Vice President Logistics, Bobby Garza as plant manager at its integrated Norzagaray cement plant and Arnold Pepino as Vice President of Operations of its integrated Lugait plant.

Villas was appointed as the Senior Vice President Logistics after serving as officer-in-charge of the department since 2019 concurrent to his role as Vice President for Sales for Greater Manila Region and South Luzon. He previously held senior sales leadership roles and served in procurement and internal audit. Villas is a certified professional for supply management, a certified information system auditor and holds a degree in computer science. He also completed a leadership program at the International Institute of Management Development (IMD) Switzerland.

Garza, Vice President for Operations of the Holcim’s Lugait, Misamis Oriental plant, will lead the Norzagaray, Bulacan plant. Garza is a licensed mining engineer and has attended leadership programs in IMD Switzerland.

Pepino, who was previously the Production Manager at Lugait, succeeds Garza as Vice President of Operations at the site. He started his career in Holcim Philippines as a cadet engineer in 1996. Over the years, he moved to different roles and projects in production, process and manufacturing excellence. In 2017, he was sent by LafargeHolcim Group to plants in Romania and Austria to learn best practices under its ‘Learning Across Borders’ program. Pepino holds a master’s degree in business administration and a computer engineering degree.

Spain: LafargeHolcim has appointed Verónica Martín Martínez as its new director of human resources and communication in Spain. She has nearly 20 years of experience in human resources working in both Spain and Latin America for a diverse range of companies in various sectors including chemical and automotive sectors. She will also join the management committee of LafargeHolcim Spain. Martín holds a degree in Law and Business Administration from the University of Deusto and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Instituto de Empresa.

Netherlands: Malvern Panalytical has appointed Mark Fleiner as its new president. Fleiner, who was previously Business Group Director of the Industrial Solutions Division of Spectris, moved into his new role at Malvern Panalytical on 1 May 2020. He succeeds Paolo Carmassi who spent over three years in the position. Carmassi has left the company to take up an external role. Malvern Panalytical is an analytical instrumentation and automation solutions provider that offers products to a variety of sectors including cement.

France: Vicat says that group business activity increased month-on-month between April and May 2020. In a special update on business in the context of the coronavirus, the company said that the outbreak’s impacts varied across the 12 countries in which it operates, all of which locked down due to the pandemic.

In France, the level of business is “slightly lower” than in May 2019 following a steady recovery from a “strong slowdown in mid-March 2020.” Macroeconomic and competition issues continue in Egypt and Turkey, not however due to the coronavirus outbreak, while volumes and prices have generally increased in Switzerland, the US, Brazil and Western Africa, except in Senegal, where the government has cancelled infrastructure projects. Following the pan-Indian lockdown between 24 March 2020 and 17 April 2020, business in India has resumed, albeit at a “level significantly below that of the same period of 2019.”

The group says that it is planning cost-cutting measures and has postponed a planned US price rise to late 2020.

Spain: LafargeHolcim España has announced the launch of a range of mortars specially suited to use in 3D printing. EN News has reported that the range, called Tector 3D build, includes cement and natural hydraulic lime mortars. The company says that the products can sustain pressures of up to 90MPa for high-speed application. It is collaborating with construction companies to apply the products to 3D printing in large residential and energy infrastructure projects

Sweden: Germany-based BHS-Sonthofen has announced its supply of a twin-shaft DKXS 4.0 batch mixer for Tecwill as part of the 1100-turbine Markbygden Wind Farm in Norrbotten County. The mixer produces 4m³ of fibre concrete per batch and allows for casting up to three windmill bases per day. Tecwill has supplied a mobile concrete batching plant to the project consisting of five aggregate bins, four cement silos, a fibre dosing module and turbo-heating container including a buffer tank for cold water.

Turkmenistan: President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has signed a degree announcing the start of phase two of construction of the Baharden and Lebap cement plants in July 2020. Turkmenistan Today State News Agency has announced that the decree permits the Ministry of Industry and Construction to conclude contracts with Beyik-Bina for construction of the Baharden plant and with Turkmen Enjam for construction of the Lebap plant, each with a 1.0Mt/yr integrated capacity. Both projects are scheduled for completion in 2020.

Australia: James Hardie has revised its guidance for the quarter ending 30 June 2020, the fourth quarter of the Australian fiscal year 2020, following “improved housing market activity, particularly in North America.” Australian Associated Press – Financial News has reported that James Hardie has revised its North American fibre cement boards volumes growth estimate to 1% year-on-year from a 3% drop previously. It expects Australian volumes to remain constant year-on-year, as previously predicted, and European volumes in the quarter to fall by 13%, rather than by 16%.

India: Retail investor Radhakishan Damani has announced plans to acquire a majority stake in The India Cements. The deal is subject to the approval of competition authorities.

Thailand: Siam Cement Group (SCG) will participate in a pilot run a of prototype payments system developed by Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) that integrates central bank digital currency (CBDC) into the group’s procurement and financial management systems. CoinDesk News has reported that the Bank of Thailand will launch the project in July 2020 and conclude it by January 2021. The bank said, “The project marks an important step in broadening CBDC’s scope and adoption to wider audiences, starting with large corporates.”