Ready to glue you to the ceiling - Henkel Ceresit focuses on thermal insulation systems in 2010

Its products are used in the production of McLaren cars, NASA aircraft and Airbus airplanes, in the food and telecommunications industries, as well as in the construction of Wembley stadium, the Moscow City complex and other buildings. It is the world's biggest manufacturer of industrial glues and building chemistry. Since it opened factory Henkel Ceresit in Inđija in 2007, it has been improving its position in Serbian market. It is Henkel's division Adhesives Technology.

- Adhesives Technology is the business unit with the biggest growth rate in Henkel, both in Central Europe where its share in the company's turnover amounts to 40% and in Serbia with 28% of total turnover. We increased our sales and market share in 2009 more than we did in 2008 – said Jovan Šarenac, the Director of the Adhesives Technology division in Henkel Srbija, during the presentation of business results of factory Henkel Ceresit in Inđija.

He pointed out that 70% of the population in Serbia recognized brands Loctite Superbond and Ceresit and that the people in Henkel Ceresit were very proud of the success they had achieved in very short time.

(Jovan Šarenac)

- We are constantly increasing the turnover in spite of the fall of building industry. Consumers decided to stick to the quality even at the time of the crisis. Our results in the first quarter of year 2010 are still above our expectations. We expect significant growth in export markets this year – says Šarenac.

The products from the Inđija-based factory, of which annual capacity is 120,000 tons of products, are exported to the markets of Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. According to Henkel's announcements, export to the market of Albania should start soon as well.

- We have decided to focus on the thermal insulation segment in 2010. We want to offer our clients an efficient and quality solution that will cut electricity consumption and living costs and enable more quality life. We offer end-users a technical solution for thermal insulation facade. These products are ETA-certified, which means they are made according to all European standards – Šarenac explains for eKapija and adds that some of the main advantages of that product are German quality, 40% smaller energy consumption, that is, reduction of costs by 40%, as well as 15-year warranty period.

Jelena Grčić, the Marketing Director at Adhesives Technology, presented Henkel's brands that are made in Henkel Ceresit in Inđija - consumer glues, the Ceresit systems for ceramic tiles and facade, grout, silicone, thermal insulation systems, floor-laying systems, hydro-insulation systems, etc.

(Miroljub Antonijević applies grout)

The journalists who were present at the presentation of Henkel Ceresit's operations had the opportunity to try some of the products from the assortment of the Inđija-based factory in Henkel's workshop: grout Ceresit CE 40, finishing decorative acrylic mortar Ceresit CT 60, Loctite and Moment glues for various purposes, etc.

People from Henkel Ceresit proved they stay behind their words that Loctite Superbond can glue a man to the ceiling, just like they showed in the famous commercial, by gluing one of the factory employees upside down to the special structure.

By the way, according to the data provided by Henkel, this glue was used by 7 out of 10 households last year.

Factory Henkel Ceresit in Inđija is Henkel's first greenfield investment in Serbia, in which 8.5m EUR have been invested. The Ceresit factory for production of building materials was opened in June 2007, while the factory for production of liquid facade mortars was put in operation in August 2009.

- We opened the factory in Inđija in 2007 in six months. We were backed by the municipality of Inđija and SIEPA. Henkel is one of rare foreign companies in Serbia that kept investing even in the year of the crisis. We opened the third unit for production of highly complex products in 2009 – Šarenac points out.

(Vladan Matić explains the use of glues)

The factory in Inđija, Henkel's regional production-distribution center, uses 90% of domestic raw materials in production, while the rest are imported highly sophisticated chemical matters that are not produced in Serbia.

- The factory is completely automated and we are one of Henkel's most productive factories in Europe. We officially got six international ISO quality certificates last year. The factory has 40 permanent employees and we also hire workers for less complex jobs when needed - says Šarenac.

Henkel Ceresit's products can be found in 10,000 market chains and 4,000 retail stores from the building segment.

S.O.