Italcementi expands operations

Shirajiv Sirimane

Italcementi Gro- up, (ICT) known locally as International Cement Traders will invest US$ one million US Dollars to expand their operations in Sri Lanka.

‘Accelerated infrastructure development by the Government and the private sector is creating a bigger demand for cement and the Italcementi Group, (ICT) looking at increasing their market share in Sri Lanka.

“This investment would be for general improvements in the factory and also to improve on our air filters,” the newly appointed Managing Director of ICT, Colin Nelson, said.

Investments would be made to their land based terminal at Peliyagoda equipped with the technology to receive and handle both bulk as well as Bagged cement. “We have already received the ISO 9000 certification. We would also be introducing a new cement bag soon,” he said.

The Italcementi Group, which is a family owned company based in Bergamo Italy and one of the top five cement manufacturers in the world has operations in Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Thailand, India and North America.

Being a family owned company many of the family values are passed down and are part of the company’s ethos.

A total of 109 employees and a strong dealer network complement ICT’s local operations.

“At ICT we aim to maximise customer satisfaction, with continuous improvement in all spheres of activity” Nelson said.

“We currently have an 8 per cent market share which we intend to increase by four per cent by the end of next year,” he said.

Nelson said that Singha Cement has been used in a number of prominent and high profile construction projects, such as Queen Elizabeth Quay, Hatton National Bank Head Office, the bridge over the Mahaweli River on the Kandy Nuwara-Eliya road, as well as the bridge in Mawagama, Ratnapura, as well as in the construction of residential homes.