MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sika says it has started production of shotcrete admixtures at its main plant at Gournay-en-Bray, northwest of Paris, said Chemweek.
Shotcrete admixtures in the form of a set accelerator are used primarily in tunnel construction, and the company notes that the market potential is considerable. Europe alone is currently planning infrastructure-investment programs worth 750 billion Swiss francs ($834 billion) in total, with tunnel construction included in these programs, it says. Tenders have been issued for tunnel-construction projects with a combined length of 900 kilometers, with these projects set to come onstream over the next few years, according to Sika.
"The infrastructure construction market is generally characterized by a high level of resilience in crises. Even in 2020 capital spending remains strong. With the commissioning of the new facilities at the Gournay-en-Bray plant, our aim is to tap into business potential in France and in north and western Europe, and facilitate challenging shotcrete work in mining and tunneling projects with our specialty products. At the same time, we are strengthening our supply chain and competitiveness thanks to a sizeable reduction in logistics costs," says Ivo Schaedler, regional manager/EMEA at Sika.
The company notes that state investment is expected to drive the recovery of France’s construction sector in 2021, following a 4% contraction this year due to COVID-19. The French government’s stimulus program of SFr105 billion will include investment in the country's rail infrastructure and in extensive building renovations, the company says. More than SFr37 billion in investment will be channeled into the Grand Paris Express metro project by 2030, it adds.
As MRC reported earlier, in August 2015, Swiss specialty chemicals company Sika opened its forth production site in Russia. A new mortar factory and a plant to produce concrete admixtures were opened in Volgograd, in southern Russia. Thus, at the existing site in Lobnya, 30 km north of Moscow, a new production facility, which manufactures polymers for concrete admixtures, came on stream.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,496,500 tonnes in the first eight months of 2020, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of all ethylene polymers increased, except for linear low desnity polyethylene (LLDPE). At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 767,2900 tonnes in the eight months of 2020 (calculated using the formula - production minus exports plus imports - and not counting producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020). Supply increased exclusively of PP random copolymer.
Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 101 countries around the world and manufactures in over 200 factories. Its more than 20,000 employees generated annual sales of CHF 7.09 billion in 2018.
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