Giles Everitt, Managing Director, Chryso India
We have four portfolios of product to enhance both grinding efficiency and activation of SCM and will be investing further in our R&D to accelerate innovation and products tailor-made to meet specific customers? demands, says Giles Everitt, Managing Director, Chryso India. Excerpts from the interview…
What are the advantages of using grinding aids?
Grinding aid prevents agglomeration of grinding media during and after milling. If you have clean grinding media, then grinding efficiency increases. It not only increases milling efficiency by 10-25 per cent, but also increases rate of loading, bag filling, etc. So cement grinding aids are important in enhancing the quality and characteristics of cement.
What is the current acceptance level for cement grinding aids in India?
There is an upward trend in using cement grinding aids in India. This is because the awareness level has improved and people are more informed of the capability of the advancements in the cement grinding aids. So, the trend is extremely positive. There are more investments in capacity expansion and that is going to help Chryso India to achieve greater penetration in the Indian market.
Does it anyway contribute in reducing the carbon footprint?
Of course. Indian cement industry is very much conscious of the environmental impact of the cement manufacturing. The cement industry produces high volume of CO2. We are looking to counter this by making the clinker more active using our activation technology and enhance the strength. It gives the opportunity to increase the secondary cementitious material within the cement, thus we can reduce the CO2 footprint per tonne of cement; and that is the core driver of cement industry on sustainability criteria and from the cost perspective as well.
What is your market share in India for grinding aids?
Chryso has a technological lead position in the Indian market and our market share is improving. We have both a very proficient commercial team and proficient portfolio of products. We are heavily investing in new innovations and technologies and we can offer tailor-made solutions for specific customers? demands. However, we have to continually innovate new products and offerings for all our customers.
How do you see the acceptance of your technologies in Indian market?
International players have a major share in the Indian cement market and everybody is looking to differentiate their offerings within India. I see cement additives can be a catalyst and support in the function to innovate new products. In some areas, cement utilisation is very low, some 50 per cent which should push towards 70-80 per cent in the near future. For this, there is a need for increased grinding efficiency. Chryso has four portfolio of products to assist in all these aspects, Grinding Aids, Activators, Raw Mill Grinding Aids and Technical Products such as air entrainers. I see the cement industry in India as a technology-driven industry and they encompass and embrace technological advancements.
Could you elaborate on your R&D initiatives?
After coming to India, we identified great complexities in raw material yield in India and degree of variability. We realized that to have a technological lead in India, we had to invest in R&D for the Indian market. That?s why we invested in our research & development (R&D) centre in Navi Mumbai and we are continuing our investment at Navi Mumbai, expanding our Cement Research Laboratory in 2015. We will also be expanding our market reach to new neighbouring markets. However, the core focus of this R&D centre is India.
Chryso has three business units, concrete admixture business, construction systems business, and cement business. Our cement business unit is a team specialized for the technical sales of cement grinding aids and fully supported by its own specific technical team.
What is your spend on R&D?
From a global perspective, Chryso has consistently invested three per cent of its annual turnover back into R&D. We invest in R&D to create innovative products and 35 per cent of our sales turnover is comprised of products less than five years old. This demonstrates that we are very good innovators of products that meet the needs of our customers.
How do you assess the growth prospects in the coming years?
India is the second-largest cement market in the world, and the growth potential in India is really huge. Though significantly behind China, India has around 250 million tonne cement production per annum with a potential for 8-10 per cent growth year-on-year. The cement production can reach above 500 million tonne by 2020. So, we see a very strong market trend coming forth. It is right that Chryso has invested in its plant network, teams, and R&D, specifically for the Indian market. Everything is right for the future and strong growth for the coming five years.
What are your future plans?
We will continue to invest in our plants. We will also focus on our R&D facility in Navi Mumbai and further invest in the facility with the aspirations of a very strong growth in cement grinding aids in the coming 2-5 years. Chryso aspires to be a technological leader in the construction chemicals market in India, and we will continue to invest for growth now and in the future. We will work in partnership with our customers to meet the future demands.
FACT SHEET
-
Chryso entered the Indian market in 2006 as 50:50 joint venture with Structural Waterproofing Company (SWC)
-
In 2008 Chryso bought the balance 50 per cent share and became Chryso India
-
In 2008 new griding aids were introduced in the India
-
Currenly has four plants – Alwar, Kolkata, Vapi, Chennai
-
A new greenfield plant will be operational in 2015
-
In 2013, Chennai plant was reconstructed
-
Plans to set up a new plant in the western part of India
Chryso in indian market
- Chryso India is present in various construction segments like airports, thermal/nuclear power projects, metro rail, hydroelectric projects, concrete roads, industrial plants and ports. ITD Cementation, IVRCL, NCC, L&T, Lodha Group – World One, Gammon India, HCC, Simplex, Soma, B Seeniah, PersysSdnBhd, PunjLlyod, Bridge & Roof; various real estate developers, PSUs and government authorities are some of its prestigious customers.
- Few of the exceptional projects where Chryso has proven global standards are: M75 grade concrete for JJ Flyover; Golden Quadrilateral Highway Project, Atomic Power Projects of Kaiga, Kota, Tarapur, Kalpakkam; Malabar Hills Tunnel; Calcutta Metro; DMRC; Delhi Airport; IOCL – Barauni and Panipat; and Naptha Jhakri Hydro Electric Project.
- Chryso is a regular concrete admixture supplier in all the major ready mix concrete (RMC) units in India, viz. Lafarge, ACC, UltraTech, RMC (I) etc.