Combining success
and sustainability Çimsa is highly regarded as one of the leading companies within the Turkish cement industry. Victoria Hattersley talks to general manager Mrs Nevra Özhatay about the company’s dedication to maintaining the highest quality standards, and puts the spotlight on its pioneering sustainability programme.
Ç
imsa, a subsidiary of the leading Turkish conglomerate Sabancı Holding, stands out from other cement companies in Turkey thanks to its environmental focus and use of the purest raw materials available: its world-renowned White Portland Cement is described by general manager Mrs Özhatay as “one of the world’s best quality cements since 1989.” Alongside the white cement, the company’s range includes calcium aluminate and grey cement. Established back in 1972, today Çimsa has extensive Turkish production and development facilities, including five integrated plants in Mersin, Eskişehir, Kayseri, Niğde and Afyonkarahisar, 31 ready-mixed concrete facilities, a grinding facility in Ankara, a cement packing facility in Marmara terminal and cement packaging facility in Malatya. But the company is not just a leader in the domestic market: as one of the world’s foremost white cement producers, it has terminals in Hamburg (Germany), Trieste (Italy), Sevilla (Spain), Alicante (Spain), Famagusta (T.R.N.C.), Constanza (Romania) and Novorossiysk (Russia). Furthermore, according to Mrs Özhatay, “In the markets where we don’t have terminals we use the most effective logistics channels and satisfy our customers’ needs completely and on time.” As a result, it exports to more than 65 countries across seven continents and in 2016 it produced a total of 5.6 million tonnes of cement. Its biggest export markets include Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and America. 94 Industry Europe
Mrs Özhatay goes on to highlight the core values that have made Çimsa, according to its tagline, ‘The Name of the Formula’: “This refers to our very dynamic and flexible structure offering our business partners solutions that have been meticulously formulated and consist of segment-specific performance focusing on the needs of each sector, rather than product portfolios consisting of a single product; this makes your prescriptions more flexible and offers you a wide playing field.” Within the framework of ‘The Name of the Formula’ concept, Çimsa groups white cement and special products into three main product families: Çimsa Super White, Çimsa Aluminates and Çimsa White Concrete.
Ongoing innovation and investment A programme of continuous innovation has been one of the keys to maintaining Çimsa’s competitive edge, as Mrs Özhatay explains: “At Çimsa, we have always introduced special products to the industry. We have searched for ways to build tomorrow without losing our energy and enthusiasm while continuing to develop different and unique products.” Çimsa is one of the few companies in the world with such a strong focus on both special cement and R&D. In fact, on 28 February 2017 the Çimsa Cement Research and Application Centre
