Çimsa’s Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC) products are widely used in the fields that have challenging conditions such as the refractory industry, chemical plants, mining and tunnel construction thanks to their superior properties such as high temperature resistance, fast setting, chemical resistance and abrasion resistance.
Umut Zenar
Çimsa CEO
Your Mersin plant, home to your Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC) plant, is the only plant in the world that produces gray cement, white cement and CAC… It is also the first plant in Turkey to produce CAC. We know that the new investment has been completed and production has started. What is the role of CAC in Çimsa’s transformation process and can you tell us about its strategy in this transformation?
Our Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC) plant plays a major role in Çimsa’s transformation process. CAC contributes to the company’s sustainability goals, innovation efforts and competitiveness in the global market. With the completion of this new investment and the start of production, the Çimsa Mersin Plant fortified its position as the only plant in the world that produces gray cement, white cement and CAC.
Çimsa has two main priorities; the first is to make its core businesses more global and profitable. The second is to successfully continue the transformation from cement to building materials and product diversification. In this transformation process, CAC plays a critical bridge role.
The Sabancı Technology Center in Munich is an important actor in Çimsa’s transformation story, and the story of the center’s establishment began with the capacity increase of our CAC investment. With the commissioning of our new production line at our Mersin plant, we became one of the three largest players in the world in the CAC market. To make the most efficient use of this additional capacity, we will offer direct service to our CAC and specialty product customers from Munich. We are leading the Turkish cement and building materials industry in innovation with our value-added and tailor-made products such as CAC and Flycrete.
Çimsa has two main priorities; the first is to make its core businesses more global and profitable. The second is to successfully continue the transformation from cement to building materials and product diversification. CAC plays a critical bridge role in this transformation process.
Can you tell us about the size and process of the CAC investment?
We completed the investment of the new production facility at the end of last year, which we started in 2022, in addition to the existing CAC production capacity at our Mersin plant. Following trial production and testing processes, we commissioned our facility in February. With this 1.5 billion TRY investment, we doubled Çimsa’s CAC clinker production capacity. In this way, we became the third largest producer in the global CAC market.
We completed our CAC investment in a record-breaking short period of 16 months. Our Mersin plant, home to our CAC facility, is the only plant in the world that produces gray cement, white cement and CAC.
In which industries are Çimsa’s CAC products used, what are their properties and how do they relate to sustainability goals?
Çimsa’s Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC) products are widely used in the fields that have challenging conditions such as the refractory industry, chemical plants, mining and tunnel construction thanks to their superior properties such as high temperature resistance, fast setting, chemical resistance and abrasion resistance. It is also used in the construction of industrial furnaces operating at high temperatures, in metal melting processes in foundries, in steel and iron production, in the ceramic and glass industry and in the production of fire-resistant building materials.
Çimsa’s Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC) products, which are used in infrastructure works in the U.S., prolong the service life of the system up to 3-4 times, especially when applied as a thin layer inside steel pipes. It is also frequently preferred in the reinforcement of mine walls. When used on industrial floors, it can maintain its integrity in acidic environments, is preferred due to its high temperature resistance and can reach the strength of gray cement in six hours that gray cement can gain in one month. It is especially highly demanded in major markets such as European countries, North America, China and India. Proper use of CAC products provides a significant advantage in terms of sustainability by extending the lifecycle of structures.
Considering the advantages and superior properties of Calcium Aluminate Cement products, there should be a large production network, but we see that it is not very common. What do you think is the reason?
Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC) products are used in specific areas such as industrial and private constructions. However, since CAC production is a process that requires technical knowledge and expertise, it is important to have facilities with specialized personnel and technical equipment. This may hinder the expansion of the production network. However, as investments and technology transfers in this field increase, the application areas and demand for CAC products may also increase, thus expanding the production network. Another important factor is that the raw materials used in CAC production are available in limited geographical areas around the world.
Do you have any plans to produce these products other than your Mersin plant?
Currently, our Mersin plant is the only plant producing gray cement, white cement and Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC), which makes it unique in the world. We are making significant investments, such as the Sabancı Technology Center in Munich, to make the most efficient use of our CAC capacity, which we have increased with our new investment. We also have an ongoing investment in a gray cement grinding mill in the U.S. With this investment and similar projects, we aim to expand our production network and strengthen our presence in the global market.
There are companies you compete with in the world for CAC production. In terms properties of your products, are there any aspects that differentiate them from your competitors? Also, how do you foresee the market share of CAC products in the world to change in the coming period?
One of our biggest advantages that differentiates us from our competitors is our R&D centers and collaborations in Mersin and Munich. The studies carried out at these centers make significant contributions to the development of the properties that differentiate our products. Through Sabancı Technology Center, our R&D center in Munich, we provide technical support to our customers on the use of our products and create value for our customers. In addition, our logistical advantages over our overseas terminals are also an important factor. These advantages help us optimize our costs while increasing our delivery speed. In the coming period, the market share of global CAC products is expected to increase. However, we will maintain our position in this competitive market by preserving our domestic advantages and maintaining our R&D focus.
In addition to Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC), you also produce High Alumina Cement (HAC) containing alumina. What are the main differences between these two products? As Çimsa, do you have any plans to add this cement to your product portfolio in the coming years?
As Çimsa, we classify our CAC products according to the amount of aluminum contained in them. This classification is evaluated on the basis of different performance parameters and application areas are diversified accordingly. Our current product portfolio includes 40 and 50 grade products.
Our Mersin plant operates as the only plant producing gray cement, white cement and Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC), and has a unique position in the world.
You also have an ongoing investment in the U.S. Can you tell us about the scope, size and completion date of this investment?
In 2017, we established Cimsa Americas in the U.S. We serve the American market with our white cement grinding mill in Houston, Texas, which started operations in 2019. We aim to create a global Çimsa brand in both the white cement market and the gray cement market. With the gray cement grinding mill we have started to invest in Houston, United States of America, we will produce gray cement on site, just like white cement. We aim to commission our gray cement plant, which will have an average grinding capacity of 600 thousand tons per year, in the last quarter of 2025. With this investment, which will increase our ability to reach and deliver value to our customers, Çimsa will take a very important step in strengthening its ambition to become a global player in gray cement by expanding its international footprint in the gray cement segment, as in white cement.
What are the company’s future strategies, sustainability, innovation and growth targets in global markets?
In addition to gray cement, we are a pioneer in Turkey’s cement and building materials industry with tailor-made value-added products such as white cement and calcium aluminate cement. In addition, we continue our progress towards becoming a global brand with the strategic steps we have taken. Our main strategic goal in recent years has been to optimize our operations and increase our on-site production capacity to be closer to the market and our customers. In this context, we will continue to focus on new investment opportunities that will take our operations to the international arena and make our company an important player in the markets in which it operates, as well as our investment in the U.S. gray cement grinding plant, which we laid the foundations last year. Driven by our vision to create sustainable value for all our stakeholders, we will continue our projects and investments to meet the energy needs of our operations from renewable energy sources and thus reduce our carbon footprint. The experience we have gained in this area, especially in recent years, will be an important driving force for the rapid operationalization of our new investments.
We are taking another important step with the creation of our sustainable product portfolio. We have launched the transition process to products with low environmental impact and low carbon content with great cooperation, including our supply chain and customer network.
You continue to serve as General Manager of Akçansa and then CEO of Çimsa, what are the changes you have observed in the financial performance of the company during this period?
In the last 3 years, we have seen a significant acceleration in the financial performance of our company. By the end of 2023, we achieved a turnover of 20.5 billion TRY and a net profit of 3 billion TRY. These results were a product of the actions taken to achieve the sustainable profitability as targeted by our company. Steps such as improving operational efficiency, optimizing costs and creating new revenue sources played an important role in this success. We also took strategic steps to increase our competitiveness in the international market. By entering new markets and strengthening our presence in existing ones, we positively impacted the company’s income statement. In this process, we also developed effective management policies against fluctuations in exchange rates.
Finally, we also attached great importance to sustainability and environmental performance. We implemented various projects to increase energy efficiency, improve waste management and minimize our environmental impact. I believe that these sustainability efforts have contributed positively to both our financial performance and our company’s reputation.
