news and views on the ceramic industry’s fastest growing event
CERAMIC GAS PRODUCTS ANCHORS ULTRALITE PRESENCE
Ceramic Gas Products, part of the Mantec Group’s Technical Ceramics Division, has announced its very fi rst independent order in India. Anchor Sanitaryware, one of India’s leading brands in the sector, has placed an initial order for 80m3 of Ultralite™, a unique lightweight refractory material for kiln car loose fi ll insulation and is set to roll out a programme of Ultralite use across its entire sanitaryware manufacturing operation to save energy and improve profi ts. This is a substantial prospect as Anchor
operates two major facilities which produce around 4,000 pieces per day. The company was established in 1970 by Suresh Sompura and day-to-day management is now undertaken by his son Dushyant Sompura who said on signing the order: “Innovative ideas are the key word for us here at Anchor Sanitaryware and using Ultralite certainly matches that goal. I do feel that Ultralite is answering an urgent need in our factories at a time when energy costs are so high – it is a proven energy saver.” Anchor Sanitaryware is well known
throughout South Asia for its quality ranges of wash basin (over 40 shapes), WCs (over 20 shapes) and 12–piece bathroom sets (or suites), which are also now exported to more than 30 countries in the Middle East, Far East and Africa. Ultralite is lightweight, offers superb thermal
insulation, is non-carcinogenic and is stable at elevated temperatures. It is a material that has already successfully demonstrated superior thermal effi ciencies in a number of sectors in the industry. Ultralite is a stable and thermally effi cient insulator product, now penetrating the market against the traditional higher density materials. Ultralite’s long lifecycle and stable thermal effi ciencies are drawing strong attention, evidenced by new and substantial orders in Europe, the Far East and now India. Talks with Anchor Sanitaryware took place
during this year’s Indian Ceramics exhibition in Ahmedabad in March. “We had an excellent few days at Indian Ceramics,” commented Sales & Marketing Director, Paul Hipkiss, “and clearly the existing references for our material provided a compelling case. This is a breakthrough order
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for the company, its fi rst independent order of this size for India, and we are confi dent that the industry there – particularly in its traditional stronghold of Gujarat – will see that ultimately the switch to Ultralite saves energy, saves time and saves money.” Dushyant Sompura, a graduate and a
qualifi ed ceramist, has backed up his father’s pioneering work in the Indian sanitaryware industry with dynamism and innovative ideas. He said: “We began on the export trail as far back as 1990 and now our largest kiln is a 120 metre-long tunnel kiln. We installed a windmill here in Thangadh in 2007 to help with our efforts towards cheaper power generation – and of course we have a technically skilled workforce.” Thangadh in Gujarat State is one of the key centres in India for the production of ceramic sanitaryware. The decision to switch to Ultralite shows the
same experience and vision demonstrated by Suresh Sompura when he founded Anchor Sanitaryware and acted as the fi rst generation promoter in a fi eld, especially where export quality ware is concerned, which was quite new to Indian producers. The company is a multiple Export Award winner in India. As the company always says: “As the
advanced technologies are being introduced, we improve our production capacity and product quality.”
CUMI SEES STRONG DOMESTIC
GROWTH Consolidated net sales grew up by 32% to Rs.4.65bn from Rs.3.52bn. PBIT (excluding exceptional income) grew up by 73% from
Rs. 500mn to Rs. 870mn. Growth was driven by the strong performance of both the Indian and Overseas operations. All business segments recorded growth rates in excess of 25%. Profitability of all business segments
as well witnessed a good increase. The ceramics segment recorded a 27% increase in sales on a consolidated basis (Rs.101 Crores vs. Rs. 79 Crores). The high alumina ceramics business continued to perform well. Sales of metallized cylinders and wear resistant tiles registered strong growth. The growth in sales was driven more by the domestic market. Off-take was strong from the cement, material handling and ceramic tiles customer segments. Order inflow was good from the North American and Australian markets. CUMI Australia recovered from the slowdown experienced last year with sales increasing by 32%.. The super refractories and anti
corrosives business on a standalone basis recorded a significant increase of 36% in revenues. Order inflow was strong both for fired and monolithic products. Off-take from iron and steel industry and carbon black industry was extremely encouraging. The joint ventures in the refractories business registered a marginal growth on a combined basis. Profit before interest and tax of
the ceramics business segment on a consolidated basis increased by 44% i.e. from Rs. 15 crores to Rs. 22 crores. Operating margins also witnessed a good increase.
For more information, visit
www.indian-ceramics.com, where you can also register to follow Indian Ceramics 2012 on twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed. Full details are also contained in our offi cial publication, Asian Ceramics (
www.asianceramics.com). For direct sales and sponsorship enquiries, contact Derek Burston on
Des@gattacaltd.com ; Tel: + 44 (0) 203 239 6759
september 2011 asian ceramics 25
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