INDUSTRY FOCUS: CHEMICALS
Continues from page 131 “Sales in the East African Region have been generally flat with only certain sectors experiencing good growth (Ferro SA has an agency agreement with Time Chemicals Ltd to cover East Africa). “In Zambia and Zimbabwe, our clients have also experienced currency shortages in 2016.” Ferro SA has a wide range of technology and a vision centred on product innovation and customer focus. Marketed across 23 countries - 17 in Africa - and uniquely developed for each application
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by a highly trained and dedicated Ferro technical team. The Ferro SA business has been complimented through the acquisition of Spectrum Ceramics in 2007, NCS Resins in 2012, and two years later by Arkema South Africa - renamed Ferro Coating Resins; this was the first stage of the strategy to enter the South African surface coatings market, supported by a technical assistance and distribution agreement with Arkema in France. More recently other acquisitions and agreements have strengthened the brand with
the ‘Technology Based Performance Materials Company’ credo. TECHNOLOGY OF CHOICE Since the company was bought out by Managing Director Ian Forbes in 2004, strategic acquisitions, good management and strong leadership have seen it grow more than tenfold. “In the last twelve years Ferro SA has spent well over R905 million on capex and acquisitions with the objective of broadening and diversifying the product and market base of the group,”