Construction World July 2016

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July 2016 marks the 20 th anniversary of construction chemicals supplier, the Chryso Southern Africa Group's operations in South Africa. Here Norman Seymore, CEO of the Group and vice-president of Chryso globally, looks back on two decades of growth in South Africa's volatile building industry. PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 20 years of GROWTH in VOLATILE building industry

into the other provinces after initially being present only in the Western Cape, was a big factor. The acquisition of the Fosroc admix- ture business in 1999 saw us doubling our market share. The investment in plant and infrastruc- ture for bulk liquid production and distribu- tion gave us advantages in the market. The expansion into the mining and cement market have also contributed posi- tively to our development. Our customers and the many long term relationships and partnerships that we have with the industry leaders and their support is, of course, the primary reason for our success. In terms of what we brought to SA that was not available before? Well, we have been the first to introduce many different technol- ogies in the concrete and cement additive market over the past 20 years, and were also the pioneers with regards to the introduction of synthetic fibre reinforcing and cement/fly ash/slagment activation within the cement industry. How important has your supply of grinding aids and activators to the SA cement industry been to your business? The products that Chryso supplies to the cement industry for fly ash/slagment/ and limestone extension have assisted the cement producers greatly in allowing them to increase their extender contents while maintaining their cement performance. This has contributed significantly in reducing CO 2 emissions – something we are very proud of. When did the construction industry catch on to the role admixtures can play to enhance performance and durability? Admixtures have been used for many years and we were not the first to introduce them to SA. But I would say that it was during the 1980s that admixtures really started to be seen as an essential part of concrete mix design. In the early years there was skepti- cism from some people but as the industry has advanced – and has been able to really

What does it take to survive the extreme slumps that the South African building industry has experienced since 1996? Not so simple to answer. We have imple- mented many different approaches to our business in South Africa over the past two decades. Our growth has been driven organ- ically through innovation and technology allowing us to gain market share as well as geographical expansion within South Africa with local production as well as technical support in all the major centres. External growth came through acquisitions (Fosroc’s admixture business in 1999, and a.b.e. Construction Chemicals in 2010). Of course, our staff have played a major role and having experienced technical experts to assist and partner with our customers have also contrib- uted significantly. How important was the coming of democracy in 1994 to a

company such as Chryso, bearing in mind its foreign ownership? This had a major impact on Chryso’s growth and led to the Chryso Group being willing to invest in South Africa with the acquisition of my personal previous business, Contech, which had acted as a distributor to Chryso before 1996. The subsequent investment in manufac- turing plants and technology transfers as part of a wholly-owned foreign subsidiary of the Chryso Group would never have taken place without the democratic changes of 1994. What were the most influential moments in Chryso Southern Africa’s growth? And what did you bring to SA that was not available before? I can’t identify just one or two events. It really was a collection of many different things. For example, Chryso's geographical expansion

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Chryso products were widely used in various facets of the expansion of Durban harbour, including the undersea tunnel that linked the harbour's Point area with The Bluff (pictured). INSERT: Norman Seymore, CEO of the Group and vice-president of Chryso globally.

CONSTRUCTION WORLD JULY 2016