In its latest financial results, Concrete Canvas Ltd has revealed another record year of growth for the South Wales-based manufacturer. Its international presence for its primary “concrete on a roll” geosynthetic product has grown significantly. Material has been supplied to more than 50 countries in the past year, including throughout Latin America and in high-profile projects (e.g., LNG facility operations) in Australia.
Exports have been vital to the company’s success. These markets make up roughly 85% of the producer’s turnover for 2016. That includes 27% growth in exports (vs. 12% export growth in 2015). The coming year is already shaping up to look quite similar.
It’s a testament to the product’s utility and the trust its built in the market, as much of Wales and the United Kingdom have experienced manufacturing and export declines recently. With a strong dialogue with engineering clients and facility owners in mining, oil and gas, water resources, and other sectors around the world, Concrete Canvas continues to thrive.
EXPORTS CREATE A RECORD YEAR
“An essential part of the export strategy has been the recruitment of specialist business development managers with local knowledge,” said Will Crawford, the international company’s director. “An example is the investment the company has made into hiring high-level personnel over the last three years, which includes a team of Business Development managers that operate out of the UK office to manage the markets in Latin America, Middle East, and North Africa and Asia.”
The company has also opened offices in various global markets, such as in Belgium and Australia.
In a statement on the year’s strong numbers, the company highlighted how it has overcome the challenge of selling a relatively new construction material (a geosynthetic membrane/concrete composite roll) into traditionally conservative construction and engineering markets.
“[It] requires an extremely methodical approach,” the company noted, “while ensuring distributors and sales partners have access to the large volume technical test data and sales support from the headquarters.”
The company noted that it has been especially important to stick to this approach with international markets and the cultural and language differences they present.
“The company has recruited a sales team with a broad range of linguistic abilities as well as having technical expertise,” Concrete Canvas’s representatives stressed.
Latin America was one of the company’s strongest markets in 2016, with Brazil leading the way among South American countries.
USE OF CONCRETE CANVAS
The company’s award-winning Geosynthetic Cementitious Composite Mat (GCCM) is being utilized for secondary containment, oil and gas operations (into major liquefied natural gas plant operations), canal water conveyance, and much more.
CC reduces the environmental impact of the work while supporting an expected service life of 50+ years. Delivered in rolls, CC is a flexible, concrete-impregnated fabric that hardens on hydration to form a thin, durable, waterproof, and fire-resistant concrete layer. The material is roughly 10 times faster to install than conventional concrete.
This year, Concrete Canvas Ltd. launched its new all-in-one armored impermeable liner, CC HYDRO™. CC Hydro™ combines the concrete-impregnated fabric technology with a chemically resistant geomembrane liner. The result is the world’s first all-in-one armored containment liner. It combines excellent impermeability with the durability and puncture resistance of concrete.
In example of its growing reach, CC now works with six of the seven largest publicly owned oil and gas companies in the world: BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, Total, and Eni.
Learn more at www.concretecanvas.com.
