Concrete sales slump blamed on economy

A major concrete company is reporting a slump in sales as a result of the ongoing economic downturn.

CEMIX is, however, pinning its hopes on new marketing strategies to boost its fortunes.

General Manager of CEMIX Jason Edwards speaking to the media on the sidelines of the official launch of the CEMIX Green Hearts for Blue Ribbons campaign, said business has not been ideal in the past two years due to the economic environment.

He told reporters: “It is not the greatest environment in the past two years or so.

“We do believe that things will pick up for us within the next three months. If we compare this year to previous years it is a little slower in terms of the turnover and the number of projects that are on the way.

“But we do believe in the coming months’ things will pick up towards the end of the year.

“We hope by being a part of this campaign that we will be able to generate some more inquiries into the products we provide.

General manager of CEMIX Jason Edwards (left) presenting a cheque for $5,000 to President of The Barbados Cancer Society Dr Dorothy Cooke-Johnson.

“Construction is one of the biggest drivers of our economy and in my simple opinion I  believe for this country to turn around construction has to be at the front of it.”

The general manager of the Black Bess, St Peter company said that although it caters to domestic production, there are opportunities to export its aggregates.

He said: “You cannot really export concrete but we do have other products with our aggregates.

“We have had some inquiries from markets outside of Barbados. It is to get our manufacturing to be able to provide what the customer is looking for in terms of their specifications and that is difficult.

“Whether the Government can play a role in that, I don’t really see it is really up to us. Where the Government can help is opening those doors for us to make it happen.”

Edwards distanced himself from criticisms that domestic manufacturers are not being awarded public contracts. He said CEMIX has been working with the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) as well as facilitating other entities who have contracts with the Government.

He said: “We do a lot of work with MTW directly. And then, some of the contracts we work with are also involved with Government-related projects whether it is infrastructure works, refurbishment of the schools.

“This past summer, we supplied a few of the contractors working on the school projects. So, I cannot really repeat that sentiment as I do not see it that way.”

Edwards noted that the firm’s ‘bread and butter’ was the customer seeking building materials for new home construction. Speaking of the Green Hearts for Blue Ribbons campaign, he said CEMIX is always looking for ways in which it can give back to customers who patronized the business over the years.