Construction Chemicals
A review of new technology trends, capital investment and acquisition activity in the
construction chemicals market.
BY TIM WRIGHT
EDITOR
Worldwide, the construction industry contributes
significantly to the global GDP, and is one of the
most important elements of every economy.
Today’s demands on buildings, roads, bridges, tunnels and
dams could not be met without construction chemicals.
Construction chemicals will gain importance in the years
ahead, particularly in developing regions of the world
where the construction of new buildings and infrastructure continues to gain speed. In developed economies the
focus will be on renovation and maintenance.
Recent raw material cost inflation, energy costs and
transportation costs are creating significant financial
challenges for all construction chemical suppliers.
“Despite price increases, we are struggling to maintain
margins,” said Randy Korach, president of Tremco Global
Sealants Division. “The rising cost of goods coupled with
the tightening of construction lending practices suggests
a considerable slowing of demand may be on the horizon,”
Korach continued. “For now, though, demand remains
robust in much of the developing world and standards
are evolving to embrace western technology to meet performance and design challenges.”
The construction market is developing according to the
macro-economic trends, according to Christoph Schmidt,
brand and business unit communications, Henkel
Adhesives Technologies. “We noticed a slowdown in the
U.S. and Western European markets,” he said. “On the
other hand strong growth in parts of Eastern Europe,
Asia, the Middle East and Africa can be noticed.
“The construction market is consolidating increasingly
and manufacturers are facing sharper legal regulations,”
continued Schmidt. “Product developments are responding to the trends including construction speed, convenience for workers/ inhabitants, safety, and environmental
issues like energy and health.”
Inflation in energy and feedstock costs is the biggest
issue facing the construction chemicals market today,
which has spurred the trend towards sustainable design
and will continue to grow in importance. “With rising energy and feedstock costs, we are continually trying to reduce
operating costs in our facilities. This includes analyzing
processes to identify efficiencies, which could reduce processing time and the amount of energy consumed,” Korach
said. “Being in the specialty chemicals industry, we use
Photo: Tremco
TREMproof 250GC cold, fluid-applied waterproofing membrane
from Tremco Commercial Sealants & Waterproofing is based on a
new polymeric technology which allows application to "green"
concrete, cutting weeks out of construction schedules and
enhancing the quality of the final substrate.
water in our manufacturing processes, which we recirculate and use in other processes. This has enabled us to
reduce our water consumption by nearly 75%. At our
Toronto facility water usage has been reduced by
19,000,000 gallons a year. As with other companies, we are
exploring alternate lighting sources. In addition, along
with the investigation of renewable resources, we are
actively pursuing other alternative raw materials which
may be less volatile in pricing and availability.”
In an increasingly competitive market that continues
to consolidate, construction chemical suppliers turn to
product innovation and value added services to stay
ahead of the competition. “In today’s competitive environment, Tremco is embracing tools such as LEAN management techniques and Six Sigma tools to attack ineffi-ciencies in all areas of our business so that we can
improve throughput in this inflationary environment
while continually improving customer satisfaction,” said
Korach. “In our product development and service areas,
we are continually working on the development of a
‘value-added’ position for our customers so that we give
them a reason to choose us as their supplier of choice.
