Cement CEOs

Lafarge France gets new general director

Pascal Casanova has become the general director of Lafarge France, a unit of the French cement giant Lafarge. Casanova was born in 1968 and joined Lafarge in 1999 after having been employed by a number of different construction firms. He served as Lafarge's research and development director since 2008.

Thomas Schuler joins Solidia Technologies as new CEO.

Solidia Technologies Logo By Telecom Lead Team: Solidia Technologies that enables sustainable production of building and construction materials announced that Thomas Schuler joined the company as the new president and CEO.

Schuler will expand research and development and launch and grow a broad range of high performance, low environmental impact products for the Concrete and Building Products industries.

Schuler will focus Solidia Technologies on understanding customer needs to design and launch innovative materials with minimum environmental impact. Solidia Technologies uses CO2 as a reactant, consuming and sequestering this greenhouse gas during production of new generation of building and construction materials.

Schuler brings more than twenty-five years of research, engineering, sales and management experience in the building products industry to Solidia. His dynamic, visionary, and entrepreneurial leadership style will expand and build Solidia Technologies into a global company.

Prior to joining Solidia Technologies he was the president of DuPont's Building Innovations business, his extensive experience growing brands and creating markets in emerging economies will significantly help the company as it seeks to license its technology to manufacturers around the world.

"Tom [Schuler] is a masterful strategist and an outstanding leader. His extensive experience working in the building materials sector at DuPont will be an asset to the company and we are extremely pleased to have him as part of our team," said Jan van Dokkum, Operating Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers

Juan Bejar Ochoa appointed as executive chairman of Cementos Portland Valderrivas

The Spanish cement producer Cementos Portland Valderrivas has announced that it will appoint Juan Bejar Ochoa as its executive chairman. Bejar will replace Dieter Kiefer, who will leave the company after four years at the helm. Juan Bejar joined the company recently in January 2012.

The changes in Cementos Portland's top management come at a tough moment for the firm given the slump in cement sales on the domestic market, as well as the problems at its production sites in Tunisia.

Black appointed president in CRH America

US: Doug Black, currently chief executive of CRH's Americas Materials Division, has been appointed to the newly created position of president and chief operating officer of Oldcastle Inc, the holding company for CRH's operations in the Americas. Black will report to Mark Towe, chief executive officer of Oldcastle. Aged 47, Black joined Oldcastle in 1995 and has held a series of key leadership positions at Oldcastle and in the Precast, Architectural Products (APG) and Materials operations.

CRH, the international building materials group, has announced a number of changes within its management team in the United States, effective from 20 February 2012. Commenting on these changes, Myles Lee, CRH chief executive said, "These appointments and subsequent follow-on changes strengthen our organisational structure and enhance our ability to execute our strategies and achieve long-term performance and growth."

Mr. Liehua Zhong has been Chairman of the Board in Guangdong Tapai Group Co., Ltd. He was Chairman of the Board in the former entity of the Company.

Company Announcement to the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority No. 21-2012, 2 April 2012

After the FLSmidth & Co. A/S' Annual General Meeting held on 30 March 2012, the Board elected Mr Vagn Sørensen as Chairman and Mr Torkil Bentzen as Vice Chairman.

New CEO for Lafarge in South Africa

Thierry Legrand: Lafarge has appointed a new country CEO for its South African operations. Thierry Legrand was formerly the General Manager of Lafarge in South Africa but has changed role in line with the French building material giant's worldwide restructuring programme.

"Implementing this new structure will allow us to focus more efficiently on our customers and get closer to our markets," said Legrand. "We will use the strengths of our different product lines to design solutions in line with our customers' needs."

Legrand has managed several senior portfolios within the Lafarge group, both in South Africa and Europe.

Argos appoints new chairman

Columbia: Columbia's largest cement company, Cementos Argos (Cemargos), has named Jorge Mario Velásquez as its chairman.

A civil engineer with over 30 years' experience in cement, Velásquez replaces José Alberto Vélez, who remains at the head of parent company Grupo Argos. The changes are part of the company's ongoing corporate restructuring process, which includes splitting off non-cement assets to its investment arm, Inversiones Argos.