Displaying items by tag: Brand

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has launched a new portfolio of bagged cement for the Brazilian market. The launch follows research with construction professionals and stakeholders. The company then set up a multidisciplinary group to develop its new portfolio of bagged cement from a consumer's viewpoint.

Specific products have been developed for different types of construction work. ‘Obras Estruturais’ is intended for foundations, columns, beams and structures. ‘Todas as Obras’ is intended for plasters, subfloors and slabs. ‘Obras Básicas’ is intended for repairs and renovations without structural function. ‘Obras Especiais’ is intended for industrial use as pavers, precast and artifacts. ‘Obras Especiais em Meios Agressivos’ is intended for coastal areas, pipes and sewage treatment facilities.

“For the non-specialist consumer, buying cement will be easier, more convenient and safer. For retailers and professional workers, this will bring more confidence in their recommendations, ensuring high quality and productivity at the construction site,” said Walter Dissinger, Global CEO of Votorantim Cimentos.

Egypt: Arabian Cement Company (ACC) has launched Al Nasr branded Ordinary Portland Cement. The new branded cement is intended to penetrate new segments of the market. It has been launched in Cairo, Giza and Qlayoubia. ACC will continue to produce Al Mosalah branded cement in the other Delta markets.

"We are extremely pleased to announce launching our new cement brand in Egypt, which reinforces our position as one of the largest cement producers in the market," said Jose Maria Magrina, ACC Chief Executive Officer.

ACC also recently announced that is has renewed its plant operation agreement with NLSupervision (NLS). The agreement commenced on 1 February 2016 and run until 31 January 2021. NLSupervision is fully owned by FLSmidth, and will be operating both production lines at ACC's plant located in Suez Governorate.

UK: Hope Construction Materials has announced the launch of a new bagged cement product scheduled for later in 2016. The new product, called Professional Grade Cement, will be marketed in the south of England.

“Hope Works has been making cement for more than 80 years and has an outstanding reputation for consistent quality and service. We are delighted to be able to offer our product in our own branded bag to customers for the very first time,” said Hope’s Commercial Director for Cement, Gary Brennand.

The new product packaging will feature a large ram, paying homage to the company’s origin in Derbyshire, which is transparent to ensure the consistent colour of Hope cement is always clearly visible. All the bags will be plastic, weatherproof and packed to give end users confidence that they can store the bags outdoors.

Hope cement had previously been available in bags through a third party supplier. This launch marks the first time Hope cement will be on the company’s packaging. The new product follows an 18-month research and development process with consultation of merchants and professional builders.

Mexico: Holcim Mexico has launched an updated version of Holcim Fuerte, a cement product aimed at the self-construction and housing sector. It is being advertised as providing better performance and savings of up to 30% per cubic meter placed. More than US$7m has been spent on developing the product including two years of laboratory studies and field trials. A national multi-channel advertising campaign in Mexico has been launched to raise awareness of the product.

Germany: In the future, thyssenkrupp will use one common brand the world over. The redevelopment of the brand reflects the transformation of the technology company to a diversified industrial group.

"thyssenkrupp has changed in recent years. We are a different company today. We have become more diversified and, as a result, more stable," said Heinrich Hiesinger, CEO of thyssenkrupp. "However, we are not yet perceived everywhere as the high-performance industrial group we are and want to become even more. That's why we decided to redevelop the brand," said Communications Chief Alexander Wilke.

The new brand puts a stronger focus on customers. It communicates the company's positioning as a diversified industrial group and its aspiration to work in an integrated way, leveraging internal synergies and creating added value for customers, employees and shareholders. The new branding is based on a survey of more than 6000 customers, employees, applicants, investors, works council members, public figures and consumers.

The new brand condenses what thyssenkrupp stands for in a logo, a slogan and new colours. "But these are only the visible elements of our brand. At its core is our brand promise – because it places the focus on customers and says how we want to advance them," said Wilke. "The new brand does not mean that we have reached the end of our transformation. But it is designed to give a further boost to our change process both inside and outside the company," said Hiesinger.

Over 180 different brand identities currently exist side-by-side within the group. The single brand will create a unified image among customers and employees. thyssenkrupp will introduce the new brand gradually and in accordance with the company's financial situation. Service vehicles, trucks used by the logistics unit, office stationery, work clothes, among others, will only appear in the new brand look when they would normally have been replaced at the end of their service lives.

Saudi Arabia: Saudi Cement Company has launched a new brand identity that embodies the company's future vision for growth.

A ceremony was held at the Sheraton Damman Hotel to mark the occasion in the presence of senior government officials, businessmen, suppliers and clients. The event also marked the company's diamond jubilee.

According to a statement, Saudi Cement chose to evolve its brand and motto in order to reflect a new identity and pledge solid commitment to clients in line with its vision and determination to continue in the path of fundamental evolution embarked on in 2008.

Chairman Khalid bin Abdul-rahman Al Rajhi said that the new identity confirms that Saudi Cement is looking forward to a brighter future. "In light of the changing conditions in the markets of the cement industry, the company reveals a new brand identity that reflects its historical legacy and our present day status, as well as our relentless efforts to be innovative and have a positive impact on the future," said the Chairman. "All of the shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers and the community we serve have played a part in our successful achievements and we cherish our excellent relations with them."

Managing Director Walid bin Ahmed Al Juffali highlighted the importance of planning and development in the outstanding performance of the company. He said that there were a number of key factors to the success of the company, including the concerted efforts of co-operation between the staff of the company, customers' trust and the favourable climate created by the government to support national companies.

"We were able to attain the objectives that we set during the past decade," said Al Juffali. "Armed with a clear vision we set our goals, outlined our values and managed to develop the organisational structure of the company and motivate the human resources to materialise our objectives. Thus Saudi Cement was able to attain its well-deserved leading position and looks forward to a promising future. The leading position assumed by Saudi Cement is the outcome of a solid foundation and historical heritage spanning half-a-century during which the company was able to weave close relations with stakeholders, clients, suppliers and the community it is serving to the benefit of all parties." He stressed that the new brand identity is an accolade deserved by merit of outstanding performance in the region, driving the company to become one of the major and most trusted companies in the Saudi and Middle East markets.

Saudi Cement benefits from its presence in Al Ahsa, in close proximity to the energy needed to run the cement plant and raw materials essential for the cement manufacturing process, as well as the availability of skilled labour and craftsmen. The proximity of the cement plant, linked by rail to King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam also helps to facilitate cement exports.

Brazil: Cement group LafargeHolcim has announced the launch of a new promotional campaign for its Maua cement brand in Brazil. The campaign, launched in Rio de Janeiro with the concept 'Orgulho de Fazer Bem Feito' or 'Proud of doing things well', will include radio spots and outdoor advertising in addition to point-of-sale material. The campaign also includes a radio competition that will award smartphones to eight winners.

Mexico: Grupo de Oro and LafargeHolcim Mexico have strengthened their strategic partnership with the launch of Holcim Fuerte branded cement in 2015. The development of the new product commenced in 2012 and has been tested in different projects prior to its commercialisation. The new cement is targeted for builders laying foundations and reinforcing walls and beams, according to Quadratin.

Ireland's CRH this week submitted a binding bid for various Indian assets of LafargeHolcim that will be sold by the newly-formed group as a condition of its formation. CRH will compete for the assets with HeidelbergCement and Barings Private Equity, which sold its stake in the same assets to Lafarge India prior to the merger. According to the Irish Examiner, the scale of the bids is in the region of US$600 - 800m. On the back-burner is another deal that could see CRH snap up a 74% stake in Tongyang Cement and Energy in South Korea.

These moves are consistent with CRH's new-found commitment to rapid expansion into new markets and an apparent desire to become a far bigger player in the global cement industry. It is in line with the sentiment expressed by its CEO Albert Manifold back in February 2015, when he stated in a letter to shareholders that CRH had given 'hell or high water commitments to Lafarge and Holcim' regarding its earlier Euro6.5bn purchase of assets as part of the LafargeHolcim merger. At that point CRH appeared almost 'over committed' to the huge deal, with some analysts asking whether or not CRH had paid too much.

Let's stop a minute to look at where CRH finds itself. Europe, its main cement market, is still under siege from a general lack of investment, both private and public. The UK is likely to perform well, although an ongoing Competition Enquiry at Irish Cement is an unwelcome distraction. CRH's new eastern European ventures are all in fairly small markets. Poland, in which CRH operates Grupa Ozarow, appears to act as the model for these acquisitions, but they remain at risk from the prolonged Eurozone crisis.

In Brazil, another new market, CRH is 'up against it,' with massive competition from Votorantim and InterCement, smaller local players and LafargeHolcim. A decline in cement demand here so far in 2015 year-on-year is not a good omen. Neither is Votorantim's decision this week to turn one of its plants into a distribution centre due to continued low demand.

In Canada CRH will gain 3.1Mt/yr of former Holcim capacity, around 20% of that market's capacity. This, along with its 2.7Mt/yr acquisition in the Philippines, probably represents CRH's best opportunities out of its newly-acquired assets.

However, with the confirmation that it intends to invest in 5Mt/yr of former Lafarge assets in India, a market not exactly enjoying buoyant conditions at present, CRH appears to be further exposing itself to another 'sub-optimal' market. We recently reported on the 100Mt/yr of capacity that is sitting idle in India at present , hardly a situation to instil confidence in a new entrant.

Whether CRH will be forced to leave some of these markets, buy into others or otherwise shuffle its cement assets to better suit the world economy remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the aforementioned mega-deal, LafargeHolcim gave the first indications of how it will go about re-branding in various markets this week. While a new brand will be introduced in markets with 'a balanced overlap' of former Lafarge and Holcim assets, countries without overlap will see existing Lafarge or Holcim 'brands' become 'endorsed' by LafargeHolcim. In countries with unbalanced overlap, either Lafarge or Holcim will be the endorsed brand.

Of course, in every market that it has bought a LafargeHolcim asset, CRH will also have to re-brand. So far it has announced that its operations in France will be branded as 'Orsima' from 1 August 2015. No elaboration on how this name was derived has been provided, but let's hope that there are not too many other new names to remember!

Rwanda: Cimerwa has unveiled its new corporate identity and product packaging. The new identity uses bold blue 32.5 bags and bright red 42.5 bags.

"We have moved from the previous green to a bold blue reflecting the refreshing nature of the business as we go through a rebirth and repositioning of Cimerwa. The previous logo was a closed diamond; the new logo is open, symbolising the bright future of the company and the journey we will be making together towards the top," said Legodi Busisiwe, Cimerwa CEO.

Cimerwa is finalising work on its new state-of-the-art production facility in Bugarama, Rusizi. The plant, which will boost Cimerwa's manufacturing capacity by six times, will commence production early in the second half of 2015. When fully operational, the plant's production capacity will increase from the current 100,000t/yr to 600,000t/yr.

Legodi said that construction of the plant in Bugarama is now complete and is undergoing structured tests in line with global best practice in the cement manufacturing sector. "The testing phase, which is the most important in preparing the plant for production, will take at least two months. Our aim is to certify that the new plant operates efficiently and effectively when it is running fully and produce a quality cement to meet Rwanda's growing demand," said Busisiwe.

According to Francois Kanimba, the minister for trade and industry, Rwanda's industrial and construction sectors are expected to register strong performances by the end of 2015. "Construction and real estate are key sectors and potential major drivers of future economic growth in Rwanda, mainly due to the high demand for residential and commercial buildings," said Kanimba. "Statistics from the Rwanda Development Board puts total housing needs in Kigali alone at 458,265 dwelling units. The government is keen to develop home-grown industries that will offer locally-made, world class products and, in the process, reduce the large bill we spend on imports."