Exactly 65 years ago, the cement industry was beginning a new stage in its history. The National Union of the Cement Industry (SNIC) was born. Undoubtedly, a great milestone of a trajectory begun in the late nineteenth century, when the first steps were taken in the manufacture of cement in Brazil.
Throughout all these years, the SNIC has played a very important role for the country. Its active participation as a spokesperson for the cement industry translates into numbers: economic data that allow the development of public policies that seek the well-being and construction of an infrastructure for the country, and the elaboration of scenarios. Permanent dialogue with industry entities in other countries allows the induction of technology and innovation, and the dissemination of the pioneering of the Brazilian cement industry.
It also translates into a performance guided by sustainability. It is an industry that seeks to expand and evolve its activities without neglecting respect for the environment, adopting practices of great value, such as the coprocessing of industrial waste as fuel in the furnaces of its factories to replace fossil fuels such as coke and addition of materials alternative to clinker, the main raw material for cement, among other positive examples.
But sustainability goes even further: the cement industry provides permanent qualification of its employees and offers millions of Brazilians the second most consumed product in the world after water, essential to construction, which transforms into housing, commercial, industrial and infrastructure works . It is part of a complex production chain, ranging from the mining industry to construction, generating employment and income in all corners of Brazil. It is also a great thermometer of the economy, reflecting the consumption power of Brazilians. There is still much to build in Brazil. And SNIC is ready for that.