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Holcim appoints Terver as head of Africa, Middle East and Indian subcontinent amidst senior management reorganisation
Written by Global Cement staff
06 November 2013
Switzerland: Bernard Terver, Member of the Holcim Executive Committee, has been appointed head of a company region encompassing Africa, Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. The appointment caps a series of changes in the company's senior management. All changes become effective on 1 January 2014.
Onne van der Weijde will remain Area Manager for India and will assist in the restructuring of Holcim's subsidiaries, ACC and Ambuja Cements. Javier de Benito will remain Area Manager for Africa and the Middle East, reporting directly to Terver. Member of the Holcim Executive Committee, Ian Thackwray will become responsible for East Asia, South East Asia, Oceania and Holcim Trading.
Daniel Bach, currently CEO of Holcim Romania, will be appointed Area Manager for South East Asia and member of senior management of Holcim. Alain Bourguignon, currently CEO of Aggregate Industries UK, will be appointed Area Manager for North America / UK and member of senior management of Holcim. He will report directly to the CEO of Holcim. Investor Relations and Risk Management will now report to CFO Thomas Aebischer.
Member of the Holcim Executive Committee Paul Hugentobler, currently responsible for South Asia and the ASEAN nations (Association of Southeast Asian Nations excluding the Philippines), will be retiring upon reaching the statutory age limit in February 2014. He will act as an advisor to the CEO of Holcim starting from 1 January 2014.
The area of responsibility of Holcim Executive Committee members Roland Köhler, in charge of Europe excluding the UK, and Andreas Leu, responsible for Latin America, will remain unchanged.
Lafarge sales down 4% to Euro4.24bn in the third quarter 06 November 2013
France: Lafarge has reported that its sales fell by 4% year-on-year to Euro4.24bn for the third quarter of 2013 from Euro4.39bn for the same period in 2012. The France-based building materials multinational blamed the results on adverse exchange rates which had a negative impact of 7% on both sales and profit indicators such as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). Lafarge reported that its EBITDA fell by 6% year-on-year to Euro 1.01bn for the third quarter of 2013. Cement volumes remained stable at 36.7Mt.
By business region, cement sales volumes fell in North America, Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America for both the third quarter and the year to date. Mixed results were reported in the Middle East and Africa where cement sales volumes have fallen overall so far in 2013 but rose in the third quarter. Asia saw cement volumes rise in both periods.
Lafarge expects that the cement sector will grow at 0 - 3% in 2013 compared to 2012 due to market recovery in the US, continuing growth in most emerging markets and 'stabilisation' in Europe. The company intends to reduce its net debt to below Euro10bn in 2013, and below Euro9bn in 2014.
Vicat sales cement sales down by 2.8% to Euro855m so far in 2013 06 November 2013
France: The Vicat Group has reported that its consolidated cement sales have fallen by 2.8% year-on-year to Euro855m for the first nine months of 2013 from Euro879 in 2012. No reason was given for the decline. Cement sales volumes rose by 1.4% year-on-year to 13.7Mt. Overall the company saw its total sales remain stable year-on-year at Euro1.74bn.
"The United States, Switzerland, Turkey and Kazakhstan again delivered healthy business levels while political and security factors in Egypt and competition in India and Senegal continued to weigh on the Group's performance in these regions," said Guy Sidos, CEO of Vicat.
Turkey: Engineering supplier Loesche has released information about a contract it signed in July 2013 to supply Göltas Cimento with a Type LM 56.3+3 vertical roller mill for cement grinding for its plant 130km north of Antalya. Loesche has previously supplied the company with vertical roller mills for cement raw material and coal grinding. The mill will produce at least three different types of cement, a standard OPC cement and various types of composite cements, at a production rate of up to 230t/hr.
A TEC supplies equipment for Messebo Building Materials Production 06 November 2013
Ethiopia: A TEC has released progress information on contracts to provide an alternative fuel system, which can process sesame straw and stalks, and a cement big-bag filling station for Messebo Building Materials Production in Mekelle. Both commissions were awarded in the first quarter of 2013 and local manufacturing and the erection will be performed by Mesfin Industrial Engineering PLC, a sister company of Messebo.
Installation of the alternative fuels system will start in the fourth quarter of 2013 with a planned start-up in the first quarter of 2014. Collection and preparation of straw and the production of bales will take place at Kafta Humera. The first phase of the project includes building a baling capacity of 50t/hr and an alternative fuel feeding capacity to the calciner of 10t/hr at the cement plant in Mekelle. A future upgrade, phase two, will scale the system up to a baling capacity of 71t/hr and an alternative fuel feeding capacity of 20t/hr.
The new station for big-bag filling will be installed at the cement plant in Mekelle. The system will consist of three filling stations in modular design. Each station can handle 15 bags/hr. A total number of 45 big-bags/hr with an overall capacity of 90t/hr can be reached. The big-bag filling station will be installed and commissioned at the end of 2013.