London  – The World Cement Association (WCA) has announced the first line-up of speakers for its 7th annual conference and exhibition, which will take place on May 18th and 19th 2024, at the Hilton Nanjing Niushoushan, in Nanjing, China, and will focus on the theme of ‘Strategy and Performance.’

At this year’s conference, the WCA will address the various complex and pressing issues being faced by the cement industry currently, by sharing the latest successful advances and discussing solutions to the evolving challenges in our sector.

The event will host CEOs, VPs, Chairs, CTOs, COOs and Executive Directors from the cement and concrete industries, industrial decarbonisation, finance, and technology, as they gain insights into contemporary issues faced by the cement industry through a range of presentations and panel sessions from industry experts.

Topics covered will include: the impact of carbon trading systems, achievements in cost reduction and efficiency improvement, global outlook: opportunities and challenges successful management transformation, and developments in supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) and the effect on clinker demand.

Mr Wei Rushan, WCA’s President will be drawing on his extensive experience in strategies, investments and capital management, and transformation and development during his closing remarks to the attendees. Mr Wei has been the President and Executive Director of China National Building Materials Co. Ltd. (CNBM) since 2022, having held a range of senior roles within the company for over 15 years. In acknowledgement of his industry knowhow, he has been awarded with the First Prize of National Enterprise Management Modernization in 2018, the First Prize of National Building Material Enterprise Management Modernization Innovation Achievement in 2019 and other awards.

Other speakers and panellists include:

o       Emir Adiguzel, Founder and Director of the WCA. During his 30 years in the international cement business, Emir was the former Global CEO of Heidelberg Materials Group International Trade (HCT) and now leads as the Executive Chairman of ACG Consultancy Group. Emir will be speaking at the ‘Global Trade Opportunity and Challenges’ session where he will be presenting his insights on ‘Conquering the Global Market: Unveiling the Trade Strategy in an International Company.’

o       Frank Li, Deputy General Manager of CNBM Green Energy Co. With over 17 years of knowledge in the carbon trading and management field, he has specialised in allowance and offset product trading within European and Chinese carbon markets since 2007. Frank will leverage his experience to deliver insights on ‘China’s ETS Expansion: Opportunities and Challenges for the Cement Sector’ during the ‘Impact of Carbon Trading Systems’ session.

o       Matthias Mersmann, CTO at KHD Humboldt Wedag. Matthias has gathered 30 years of experience within the cement sector and will be drawing on his work in the development of efficient machines and processes for manufacturing cement in his presentation on ‘The Latest Achievements in Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement’ during the ‘New Process Technology’ session.

Additionally, the WCA will be revealing the winners of several awards as they recognise excellence and outstanding achievements in the cement industry. The awards presented will be in the following 4 categories: Model Plant, Climate Action, Innovation, and Health & Safety.