6 - Vicat

6BUSINESS OVERVIEW6.3. DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESSES AND INTRODUCTION TO THE MARKETSing sites for major projects. According to the ERMCO,ready-mixed concrete production in Switzerland was12 million m 3 in 2007 and 2008. According to theGroup’s estimates, the market remained stable in2009. The ready-mixed concrete market is very developedand served by a dense network.Through its Vigier subsidiary, the Group owns 18concrete batching plants distributed over the westernhalf of Switzerland in four regions. These concretebatching plants produced 0.5 million m 3 in2009, showing a decrease of around 4 % comparedwith the previous year (production having been 0.52million m 3 in 2008).Vigier operates 19 aggregates sites, located near theconcrete batching plants. These quarries are generallysmaller than in France and are primarily intended tomeet the needs of the concrete batching plants. Vigier’saggregates production remained stable compared tothe previous year, rising to 2.6 million tonnes in 2009.In addition, Vigier’s organisation in the Bienne-Soleure region was rationalised in 2006, with the legalseparation of Ready-mixed concrete/Aggregatesactivities and Prefabrication activities.(d) TurkeyThe ready-mixed concrete market in Turkey hasexperienced annual average growth of 16.4 % since2004 and 1.5 % since 2006 (1) . Ready-mixed concreteappeared at the beginning of the 1980s in Turkeyand very quickly developed from the beginning ofthe 1990s. Following the earthquake of 1999, theTurkish government imposed new standards intendedto improve building quality, which has beento the benefit of the ready-mixed concrete businessas a whole over these last five years, to the detrimentof manually mixed concrete. The Turkish readymixedconcrete market is estimated at more than 67million m 3 in 2009, in decline by approximately 3 %compared with the previous year. In addition, thenumber of installations in the territory increased byapproximately 3 % in the same period, strengtheningcompetition and leading to price reductions in readymixedconcrete.The Group has been present in Turkey since 1991and has developed a Ready-mixed concrete businessin the Central Anatolian region around the cities ofAnkara and Konya. At the end of 2009, the Groupwas operating 37 concrete batching plants, of which17 in the area of Ankara and 20 in the area of Konya,their production having reached the level of 2.3 millionm 3 , corresponding to a 15.3 % increase from theprevious year. This increase was largely seen in theAnkara region, thanks in particular to the use of mobilepower stations positioned on major sites.The ready-mixed concrete business in Turkey mustadapt both to the rigorous climatic conditions in thecentral part of the country and to the constraints relatedto the country’s tourist trade. Thus, the Groupalternates its ready-mixed concrete business : fromspring until autumn, it supplies mainly the Ankaraand Konya regions and, during the winter and thelow season for tourism, the construction sites on theMediterranean and Black Sea coasts.The market for aggregates in Turkey is estimated atapproximately 240 million tonnes in 2009 (2) , down bynearly 8 % compared to 2008. The Group operates sixquarries in Turkey and their total aggregates productionwas 4 million tonnes in 2009 (increasing by 3 %compared to 2008) : four quarries are located closeto Ankara, one quarry is located close to Konya anda last quarry is located near the Mediterranean coast.These are solid rock quarries, except for the one locatedon the Mediterranean coast, which is an alluvialrock quarry. The Group’s position in Turkey in thisAggregates business is focused on covering the marketingarea of its Ready-mixed concrete business.(e) SenegalThe unfavourable outlook for the public constructionsector observed since the last quarter of 2008continued throughout 2009, in housing constructionas well as in large infrastructure.The Group operates in the aggregates market servingSenegal and its adjoining countries. Despite thelack of official statistics, the Group estimated thismarket at approximately 2.8 million tonnes in 2009,i.e. a drop of around 20 % compared to 2008. Thismarket has been characterised since 1994 by a demandhigher than the cumulative production capacitiesof the country’s various quarry operators. Thistrend was reversed in 2009 with the arrival of newplayers and a sometimes significant increase in theproduction capacity of our competitors. Produced inthe western part of Senegal (Dakar and Thiès), thecrushed aggregates are used in the 11 regions of thecountry and in neighbouring Gambia.(1)Internal source.(2)Internal source.52 VICAT - 2009 registration document