Change of generation in cement industry: Holcim's Wirth hands over power, as did Rohan

Markus Wirth, who runs the local subsidiary of Swiss group Holcim, one of the three “heavyweights” of the cement industry, alongside Carpatcement and Lafarge, will at the end of March hand over reins to Daniel Bach, 47, who previously served as vice-president of the Holcim subsidiary in the Philippines.
Swiss Markus Wirth, 62, leaves the management of cement producer Holcim Romania on a rather optimistic note, saying in the second half of the year there are chances that the Romanian economy as a whole, as well as the construction sector in particular, will be revived.
“After four consecutive half years of recession, it is very likely that in the first half of 2011 we will still be in recession, but I think the crisis is close to bottoming out. As for the construction sector, there are signals it will rebound, mainly because of infrastructure contracts being put up for tender,” Wirth told ZF in an interview.
He is the second executive in the cement industry to announce his departure from the company he has led in the last few years, after on January 1st Mihai Rohan, the most experienced Romanian manager on this market, left the management of Carpatcement Holding, the local subsidiary of Heidelberg. Both will remain in the boards of directors of the cement producers.