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presidents message content

Song Zhiping, WCA President, ex-CNBM Chairman and Party Secretary

The World Cement Association (WCA) was established in London in May 2016. Over this time, WCA has experienced the transition from startup to stable development. As you know, setting up an international organisation is not easy. The cement industry is large, but before WCA was established, the industry didn’t have such an organisation, different from other industries such as the automobile, steel and textile sectors, all of which have their dedicated global associations. At the time, a handful of cement enterprises came together to set up WCA in London and asked me to serve as the first President. WCA now has members in over 30 countries, with members continuing to increase in number. Since its establishment, WCA is becoming known by increasingly more people, and our 2019 conference in Shanghai has attracted interest from a large number of organisations and cement enterprises.

Our original idea for the WCA was that it would be an organisation of cement manufacturers. Now, quite a few enterprises in engineering services and related sectors also hope to join for in-depth cooperation and information exchanges. I believe this is a good thing. At a board meeting held in September 2019, I agreed that related enterprises in manufacturing, cement plant turnkey projects and services could join WCA and I hope that more and more manufacturers will join us. Since its establishment, WCA has held several important meetings. The 1st and the 2nd World Cement Conference were held in London. In June 2018, we held the 1st WCA Global Climate Change Forum in Paris, France. Out of deep concern for climate change, many members joined the forum and we invited some experts and scholars to discuss climate change-related issues.

Throughout 2020 and into 2021, Covid-19 has altered global economic directions, and the cement industry strives to find new balance and new directions among changes. The challenge is ongoing, with the uneven resumption of work and production, and the decline of cement sales and revenues.

Due to the pandemic, the regular activities and events such as the annual conference, member forums, etc. cannot be carried out. In face of challenges like economic downturn and production shutdown, WCA members are in urgent need of communication and information sharing.

Under these circumstances, WCA launched innovative offerings by using online platforms like Zoom, WeChat, Dingding, and so on. We’ve hosted more than 20 webinar sessions on the themes of “Covid-19 & the Cement Industry” and “Life After Covid-19”. A cumulative audience of about 3500 executives, experts, association heads, engineers, etc. participated. Besides, we’ve hosted “Voice from the Cement Industry” video interviews with our members, organised virtual member forums and conducted podcasts to discuss current affairs and topical subjects in the industry. By doing so, WCA continues its services to its members and sustains to share information and experiences through its brand-new communication and networking platform. WCA firmly stands by our members for their efforts to adapt to the current situation, counter the pandemic, secure growth and make contributions to economic development.

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I’d now like to share with you what WCA does and what principles WCA respects. WCA follows four principles.

First, WCA is the original international cement association, with members coming from both developed and developing countries. Its focus on emerging economies is one of its key features. For instance, in some countries, cement enterprises have a limited capacity of only million tons or less per year, but they are, as equals, warmly welcomed to WCA. Regardless of the size of its members, WCA pays close attention to emerging markets in developing countries and cares about the development of enterprises in these countries. This is a major feature of WCA. Therefore, WCA is not merely a club for large players, but an organisation of global cement enterprises that pays attention to cement enterprises in emerging economies.

Second, all WCA corporate members have the same rights whether large or small, whether from emerging economies or development countries, which is very important. Members from emerging economies especially hope for equal rights, a sense of belonging and freedom to express their opinions. WCA is exactly such a platform, which offers opportunities to both magnate enterprises and SMEs in emerging economies for being heard.

Third, WCA offers practical services to help members improve their business through knowledge exchange and sharing of best practices. Serving our members and improving their businesses is one of the core tasks of WCA.

Fourth, WCA supports a sustainable cement industry and encourages technical development and other steps to achieve full decarbonisation. This is one of our major tasks. As you know, the Paris Agreement sets strict limit for carbon emissions and this is where WCA needs make continuous efforts. With respect to carbon emissions, cement accounts for 7% of the entire industry and we shall pay great attention to carbon emission reductions across the industry.

Enhancing the co-existence of cement production and the natural environment is one of WCA's priority areas, and I believe it is a means for the cement industry to achieve long-term development as well. There are several ways to achieve the co-existence. First, conserve energy and reduce emission through technology innovation and equipment R & D, and minimize consumption and emission during production. Second, restore ecological environment in time, step up efforts to rehabilitate quarry and restore quarry ecology. Third, reduce environmental loads by bringing clean energy such as WHR, solar power and wind power into full use. Fourth, promote advanced technologies such as co-processing by cement kilns, CCUS, etc. and use them to clean the environment for human beings.

I’m convinced that with the joint efforts of all the members and with the support of everyone, WCA will realise extraordinary development and achievement. Ladies and gentlemen, the development of the cement industry shall keep in line with the world development. As an independent organisation representing the global cement industry and its stakeholders, WCA will continue its commitments to promoting the sustainable development of the industry, the harmonious co-existence between cement production and environmental protection. We will be committed to leading the world cement industry to reshape new market competition patterns.

Thank you.

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Ex Officio Directors

Song Zhiping

President - World Cement Association

Song Zhiping is the President of the World Cement Association, Chairman of China Association for Public Companies, Chairman of China Enterprise Reform and Development Society and, former Chairman of China National Building Material Group Co., Ltd. (CNBM) and Sinopharm. With a PhD in Management Engineering, Mr. Song has received a number of awards for his management and entrepreneurial skills, including Golden Globe Award for China’s Outstanding Entrepreneur, Yuan Baohua Business Management Award, China Economic Figure of the Year, Fortune CEO Lifetime Achievement Award and others.

Mr. Song is an entrepreneur, reformer and corporate thinker: at the forefront of enterprise reform for four decades, he has created many practical management and reform experiences. Both CNBM and Sinopharm were included in the Fortune Global 500 list under his leadership. His experience in leading the integration and restructure of Chinese cement sector has been studied by Harvard University Business School, with his farsighted vision widely recognised and respected by the business community.

Ian Riley

CEO - World Cement Association

After graduating from Cambridge University in 1979, Mr Riley worked in a number of management roles in the UK, the USA, Australia and Japan before moving to China in 1998. He was General Manager of a British project management and consulting firm, based in Shanghai and also Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai before joining Holcim/Huaxin in 2006.

As Huaxin VP responsible for international business, strategy and sustainability, he oversaw Huaxin’s first overseas venture in Tajikistan. Mr Riley was Greater China Country Head for LafargeHolcim from 2014 to 2019. He has been CEO of WCA since September 1, 2019.

Emir Adiguzel

Founder & Director - World Cement Association

The Chairman of ACG Consultancy group, the founder and former President of the World Cement Association, long time (20+ years) global CEO of the Heidelberg Cement Group’s international business (HCT) until 2020, Mr. A. Emir Adiguzel is an industry executive with over 30 years of experience. He has led mid to large-sized industrial organizations in the heavy building construction materials sector, such as cement and concrete, with special expertise in international trade, sales and procurement of raw materials.

Elected Directors

Cui Xingtai

Joint Chairman - World Cement Association

Cui Xingtai has been Chairman of China United Cement Corporation (CUCC) since 2005. CUCC has nearly 100 subsidiaries in Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan and Beijing. CUCC has a production capacity of 120 mtpa cement, 150m m3 of concrete and 100 mtpa of aggregates.

His tenure as Vice President of both CNBM Limited and Chairman of CUCC has exceeded 16 years. He has worked over 40 years in the building material industry, with rich technological and management experiences in the cement industry.

He also has more than 35 years of business management experiences in the building materials industry. Mr Cui graduated from Wuhan University of Technology and has an MBA from Tsinghua University.

Mohammed Ali Al-Garni

Vice President - World Cement Association

Having joined Saudi Cement in 1984, Mohammed Al Garni has been Board Member & CEO since 2010. He is currently Chairman of affiliates in Jeddah and Bahrain and a member of Saudi Arabia’s National Cement Companies Committee and the Arab Union for Cement & Building Materials. He was previously Vice Chairman of International Cement in Kuwait.

Saudi Cement was established in 1955, a regional pioneer in high-quality cement, known for its quality products and services which fulfil both local and international requirements. Saudi Cement has a state-of-the-art export terminal at King Abdulaziz port in Dammam, reliably connected with the 10 mtpa capacity plant by railway.

Roland van Wijnen

Director - World Cement Association

Roland was appointed as Group CEO of PPC Ltd in October 2019, and has over 20 years of CEO and consulting experience on a global scale, with a broad skill set encompassing operations management, strategy planning & execution, business process re-engineering, project planning and management, service delivery, senior-level relationship building and people management and development.

His experience in the cement industry started in 1998, and from 2010 to 2013 Roland served as CEO of Holcim Philippines followed by a CEO position at Holcim Trading. In all his CEO roles he has actively contributed to the reduction of the environmental footprint of the companies he worked for and also took additional external roles to drive the environmental agenda.

Fabien Charbonnel

Director - World Cement Association

Mr. Charbonnel has been CEO of Cem'In'Eu since 2016, with extensive experience in the cement and concrete industry and comprehensive knowledge of the Western Europe Market; including the development of 7 cement grinding unit projects in France and Poland.

Responsible for the management of the impact of Covid19 (2020) and energy crisis (2022) on the activity and P&L. Long term investment experience in decarbonisation of cement, reduction of clinker factor and product innovation, ETS and CBAM. Wide knowledge of European standards of the industry. Experienced with following industry associations (Cembureau, Cimbeton/SFIC in France, Febelcem/CRIC in Belgium)

Xu Gang

Director - World Cement Association

Chairman of the Board of Maweni Limestone, VP & Head of Overseas Area of Huaxin Cement Co. Ltd. parent company of Maweni Limestone), Mr Xu has 22 years’ experience in cement industry in different roles with comprehensive experience in safety, processing, strategy, sales and marketing, organization, logistics and procurement etc. Mr. Xu joined Huaxin in late 2015. Before becoming Head Overseas Business in 2018 he was Head Marketing, Procurement & Logistics at Huaxin group level.

Prior to Huaxin, Mr. Xu was subsequently served as the safety manager, integration manager, strategy manager, marketing and sales director at Lafarge China. He holds an MBA from Tsinghua University, Beijing and gained safety engineering and corporate finance bachelor’s degrees respectively from China University of Geosciences and Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.

Kevin Lunney

Director - World Cement Association

Chief Operations Officer for Mannok Holdings DAC, which is the group holding company including Mannok Cement Ltd. Other entities within the group include a number of vertically integrated quarry and downstream concrete product facilities in Ireland and UK. Mannok Cement currently hold 25% of the Irish cement market.

Directly responsible within the group for cement operations with a targeted focus on decarbonisation of the cement production process and related downstream operations in line with the Mannok 2030 Sustainability Strategy. Main company representative in all strategic relationships with the cement sector including equipment and service suppliers, academic and professional bodies.