Mexico: Cemex has added responsibility for the Philippines, Israel, Egypt and the UAE to Sergio Mauricio Menendez Medina with his appointment as the president of Cemex Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia (EMEAA). He will continue to remain the president for Cemex in Europe

Jesus Vicente Gonzalez Herrera, current president for Cemex in South, Central America and the Caribbean (SCAC), will also oversee Cemex’s Global Trading activities, in addition to his current responsibilities.

Finland: Tana has appointed Kari Liuska as its chief executive officer (CEO) with effect from 1 May 2020. Present CEO and owner Kari Kangas will continue as chairman of the board.

Liuska will transfer to Tana from Etteplan Oyj, where he worked as a Senior Vice President in Software and Embedded Solutions. Liuska has worked in Etteplan's management positions since 2016 and before that as managing director of Espotel.

Kangas, the owner-CEO of Tana Oy, will become the full-time chairman of the board. A smooth transition is anticipated as Liuska has been a member of the board of Tana for around one year.

Tana is a waste management company that produces landfill compactors, waste shredders and waste screening technologies.

US: Germany-based Lehigh Hanson has announced a suspension of work on its 2.0Mt/yr expansion of the 0.8Mt/yr Mitchell plant in Indiana to 2.8Mt/yr to early 2021 at the latest due to ‘uncertainties resulting from’ the coronavirus. The target date for commissioning has also moved, to late 2023 from September 2022. Lehigh Cement Mitchell plant manager Jerry Miller said, “A construction project of this magnitude has numerous components, such as supply chain certainty, material deliveries and, importantly, worker availability.”

The upgrade received environmental clearance in July 2019 and the company broke ground at the site in October 2019.

Philippines: Eagle Cement Corporation’s profit in 2019 was US$118m, up by 25% from US$94.1m in 2018. Sales for the year amounted to US$389m, up by 20% from US$324m in 2018. The Manila Times newspaper has reported that the company attributed the rises to ‘increased sales volumes growth,’ due in part to ‘robust demand for private consumption.’ Eagle president and CEO Paul Ang said, “We keep our positive stance that demand will eventually pick up once the enhanced community quarantine is lifted by the government and we remain committed to delivering high quality cement to both private and public sectors as soon as this happens.”

Eagle Cement Corporation will complete the installation of a fifth mill at its 7.1Mt/yr integrated Bulacan plant in 2020, bringing its cement capacity to 8.6Mt/yr.

India: Germany-based HeidelbergCement has announced the successful expansion of two grinding plants. Accord Fintech News has reported that the company took advantage of the suspension of cement production since 24 March 2020 to complete debottlenecking work at the Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, and Imlai, Madhya Pradesh, grinding plants, bringing their cement production capacities to 3.3Mt/yr and 2.5Mt/yr respectively.

HeidelbergCement India has an integrated capacity of 3.7Mt/yr and a grinding capacity of 6.3Mt/yr (total capacity: 10Mt/yr).

Cameroon: Germany-based Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions has won an engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contract with Netherlands-based Cimpor Global Holdings for the installation of a clay calcination plant at its new integrated Kribi cement plant in the Port of Kribi in South Cameroon. The system calcines clay at just 800°C, which can then replace clinker at a ratio of one to two, lowering the finished cement’s clinker factor by up to 33%.

ThyssenKrupp says that use of the system, the first of its kind in Cameroon and second at a Cimpor Global Holdings cement plant, will help cut CO₂ emissions by 120,000t/yr, corresponding to a reduction of 40%.

US: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared the Portland Cement Association its 2020 Energy Star Partner of the Year. The appointment recognises the PCA’s ‘leadership, innovation and commitment to environmental protection through energy efficiency. PCA president and CEO Mike Ireland said, “PCA and its members have greatly benefited from participation in the Energy Star programme. Cement plants have total annual source energy savings of 6.38bn mega joules and have reduced energy-related CO2 emissions by 1.5Mt/yr.”

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos earned revenues of US$2.47bn in 2019, up by 3.0% year-on-year from US$2.39bn in 2018. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation rose by 1.1% to US$513m from US$507m in 2018. Throughout the year, the company says that it paid off approximately US$570m of debt and contracted with a syndicate of banks for a new committed credit facility (CCF) for its alternative fuel substitution and CCF reduction initiatives of US$55.1m, due in August 2024.

On 30 March 2020 Votorantim Cimentos donated US$5.5m to fighting the effects of the coronavirus in Brazil.

Germany: Schwenk Zement’s 1.2Mt/yr Karlstadt cement plant in Bavaria, 1.0Mt/yr Allmendingen and Mergelstetten cement plants in Baden Württemberg and 0.86Mt/yr Bernburg cement plant in Saxony-Anhalt have all achieved the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC)’s gold certification, enabling the use of their cements in concrete for CSC certified sustainable buildings. Schwenk building consultancy head Werner Rothenbacher said, “Schwenk is committed to sustainable cement production at all locations. More works will follow soon.” In addition to its cement plants, Schwenk operates numerous ready-mix concrete production facilities in Germany.

In 2019 20% of German new-builds were CSC certified.

UK: Breedon Group has suspended production at all UK sites except operations that ‘serve critical supply needs,’ such as those of the Hope, Derbyshire, cement plant. The group’s Ireland operations also continue, ‘pending further guidance from the Irish government.’

Breedon Group says that it has taken the temporary measures ‘to ensure the safety and wellbeing of colleagues, subcontractors, customers and communities.’