Media

Kryton opens new warehouse in UAE

Kryton International’s new warehouse in Jebel Ali, UAE, which will serve customers in the Mena region, will house the entire product line including its flagship product – the Krystol Internal Membrane.

KRYTON International has opened a fully stocked warehouse in the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone (Jafza) in Dubai, UAE, in a bid to reduce lead and shipping times to the Gulf region from eight weeks to one and support the company’s global strategy of serving markets with the shortest lead times possible.

Jafza, one of the world’s fastest growing free economic zones, is home to more than 6,400 companies and is a leading economic hub for the Middle East.

The new warehouse in this area aims to serve customers in the GCC, Middle East and Africa, and tap the potential of the region which, Kryton believes, will be one of the major drivers of the company’s growth this year.

“We have experienced significant market development in the Middle East over the last five years and are confident that trend will continue through 2011 and beyond,” says Kari Yuers, CEO of Kryton International. “Our investment in the region demonstrates our belief in its potential and is an important step forward in continuing to provide high quality and efficient service to our customers.”

The new warehouse will stock the entire Kryton product line in addition to water soluble bags of Kryton’s flagship product – Krystol Internal Membrane (KIM). These bags reduce jobsite waste by eliminating product pails and will assist in enhancing green building construction practices in the regions served by the warehouse.

KIM is a cementitious chemical admixture added to fresh concrete and other materials containing Portland cement. It substantially reduces the permeability of concrete, providing permanent waterproof protection for the life of the concrete, says Kari.

“KIM provides maximum waterproof protection by forming crystals throughout the concrete. The chemicals lie dormant until water activates crystal growth, blocking the flow of water through the concrete. Using KIM eliminates the need to use conventional waterproofing membranes by protecting the concrete from the inside out,” he explains.

“KIM is used to waterproof new concrete construction projects. It is compatible with most supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) such as superplasticisers and accelerators. It can used in concrete mixes containing fly ash, silica fume and slag cement – all with excellent results.”

With the new warehouse, the process of ordering products from Kryton will remain the same for customers. Local distributors place orders on behalf of customers directly with Kryton’s customer service department.

The company’s distributors in the GCC and Middle East can be reached through its regional manager, Fadi Farhat, while distributors in Africa can be reached through Kryton’s Africa territory manager, Gary Penk. All distributors are also listed on Kryton’s website.

Kryton International is the world’s leading manufacturer and distributor of premium products for waterproofing, repairing and protecting concrete structures. For more than 38 years, its proprietary integral crystalline technology has helped solve the most difficult concrete waterproofing challenges around the world.

The Canada-based company has recently developed a new three-step restoration and protection system for above-grade concrete structures.

Launched late last year, the Hydrostop Restore and Protect System is claimed to greatly extend the useful life of aging concrete infrastructure and buildings, improve overall aesthetics and offer a more environmentally sustainable alternative to total replacement.

The first step in the system uses a non-shrink waterproof grout to repair cracks and defects at the concrete surface. The product employs Kryton’s original crystalline technology and is named Hydrostop Grout.

Once the substrate is repaired, the entire concrete surface is coated with a polymerised, cementitious slurry called Hydrostop Coating. This layer provides a durable barrier against water and chemical intrusion and improves the concrete’s overall aesthetics.

The third step creates a long-lasting water-repellent effect on the concrete surface by using a high-quality blended silane-siloxane sealer called Hydrostop Sealer.

“Replacing aging infrastructure can cost millions of dollars and be a significant, unacceptable disruption to your operations as well as to the general public,” says Kevin Yuers, Kryton vice-president. “The Hydrostop Restore and Protect System is the ideal solution. It makes the best use of resources, money and time.”

Kevin adds the new system will be welcome news for any engineers involved, or wanting to become involved, in government-supported infrastructure improvement or restoration projects.

“Over the last year, governments around the world have been introducing incentive programmes to build and repair infrastructure as a way of stimulating local economies,” explains Kevin. “We wanted to develop a restoration and protection system that would make engineers’ lives easier as they tackled these projects.”

In addition to giving aging concrete infrastructure a new lease on life, the Hydrostop Restore and Protect System makes life easier for maintenance engineers and specifiers by offering a complete and compatible system that has been developed to work flawlessly together.

“There’s no need to piece together a solution based on various products or resolve conflicting application instructions, which often occurs when different manufacturers’ products are used,” he says.

Kryton is the inventor of the crystalline waterproofing admixture for concrete and enjoys a customer reputation for being number one in technical support, Kevin adds. It has an extensive distribution network to provide dedicated support that includes third-party application training, ready-mix quality control programmes, and the waterproofing industry’s leading warranty.

Read more on Gulf Construction Online