Global Cement News

Canada: Tina Larson has been appointed as Vice President, Saskatchewan and Manitoba by Lafarge Canada. She first joined Lafarge in 2010 as General Manager, Pipe in the Greater Calgary Area following a 16-year career with Weyerhaeuser Canada where she held various management positions. In 2015, Tina was promoted to the country level role of Director, Health and Safety for Western Canada. Larson holds an undergraduate and graduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alberta.

Germany: Ralf Dörner has retired as the managing director of Ventilatorenfabrik Oelde following a 50-year career with the company.

Following his apprenticeship as an industrial manager, Dörner took over a vacant position in the commercial administration division. Subsequently, he was given the job of assuring total data management integration within the company. In 1982 he was granted power of attorney and appointed commercial manager of the company. He became managing director in 2000.

Dörner handed over the Commercial Managing Director position to his successor, Nabil Abou Lebdi. The company will now be managed with Thomas Gandt, the Technical Managing Director.

Russia: Eurocement subsidiary Akhangarantsement produced 1.9Mt of cement in 2019, a rise of 16% year-on-year from 1.6Mt in 2018. The company attributed the growth to a programme of ‘modernisation of the equipment at the Akhangarantsement aimed at increasing productivity, energy efficiency and reliability of production,’ without any disruption to supply. Akhangarantsement general director Gennady Kulikov said, “The coordinated work of the entire team allowed us to fulfil the tasks assigned to the plant with honour.”

US: On 4 February 2020, PCA Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Ed Sullivan predicted that US cement demand would rise by 1.7% in 2020 and may rise by as much as 2.7% if residential construction exceeds expectations. Sullivan stated that demand would maintain moderate growth through at least to 2022. “As long as the economy continues to grow and create jobs, the economy will remain on solid ground and continue to support cyclical portions of the cement market,” he said.

US: National Gypsum has launched Permabase WP Waterproof Cement Board, a 1.3cm-thick cement board with a waterproof core, reinforced edge and smoother surface and stronger tile bond than previous Permabase boards for mould and moisture resistance and ease of cutting and installation. National Gypsum product manager for Permabase Tony Fuller said that “National Gypsum is committed to creating innovative products with performance benefits” for construction.