end-user marketing geosynthetics / advanced composites - TenCate

TenCate heading for
record revenues in 2011
Sales of protective fabrics show
substantial growth
‘The increase in sales of TenCate Defender M
products made the greatest contribution to
TenCate’s profit growth in the first half-year.
This is, however, not the sole mainstay of this
splendid performance: TenCate Tecasafe Plus
is the second “product champion” in the
TenCate Protective Fabrics market group.
Industry is searching for products which
provide protection against a number of risks
(multi-risk) and which are attractively priced
and also offer greater wearer comfort. Apart
from the traditional markets, in which TenCate
occupies a leading position, there are also new
geographical markets. In India, for example,
changes to employment legislation are being
drawn up that relate to safety provisions for
employees in industry. Many companies are
now taking measures in readiness.’
Composite: the material of the future
‘In the field of aerospace composites too there
has been a major improvement in the situation.
That sales of aerospace composites would
increase was never in doubt, but the question
was when this would happen. Technical
problems in the development of new aircraft
and the financial crisis have led to serious
delays. At the moment there is a scaling-up of
production, which at TenCate is simple, thanks to
the investments that were made in the past.
TenCate is ready.
The arrival of the Boeing 787 and the Airbus
A350 has led to a rapid acceleration in the use
of composite materials and of thermoplastics,
such as TenCate Cetex®, in particular.
A new development is the positioning of
TenCate in new markets, where there is a
demand for lighter and strong materials; the
automotive sector is an example of this’
Temporary decrease in result of TenCate
Geosynthetics & Grass sector
‘Although the group’s overall figures for the
half year looked excellent, the TenCate
Geosynthetics & Grass sector showed a
decrease in its results. The trend in raw
material costs (PE / PP) has resulted in a
temporary pressure on margins, principally at
TenCate Geosynthetics. In the synthetic turf
industry, which is essentially a young industry,
an integration process has been taking place,
with integrated value chains undergoing a
formation process. This connects the
production of components with end-markets
and installation companies.
TenCate has been at the forefront of this
process, in part to protect the quality image of
the TenCate brand.’
TenCate ready for the future
‘Although 2008 was the best year in TenCate’s
history, in 2011 TenCate looks even better.
New acquisitions have been made, which have
strengthened our position in the market and
new technological developments are beginning
to bear fruit. These have also enabled Xennia
Technology to record increasing growth in
revenues. The BRIC countries mentioned above
also offer good prospects. Production capacity
for geosynthetics in China has recently been
expanded.
As the last “opportunity”, the ABDS system
(active blast countermeasure system) must not
go unmentioned here. Although this system is
still in the testing phase, the results look very
promising.’
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