Rotoplas Today

At Rotoplas we believe that satisfying the demand for more and better water is crucial for the economic growth, development, and sustainability of a country and its people.

With this purpose in mind we have developed the expertise and technologies needed to offer our customers innovative and efficient water solutions with which we can successfully participate in the battle to face the challenges presented by scarcity and the deterioration in the quality of water.

 

Today we operate in markets that are suffering from water scarcity for several reasons, including draught, pollution, and lack of infrastructure, and that require important improvements in their water infrastructure, including storing and distribution systems, and decentralized solutions. Rotoplas works closely with the country governments to satisfy the basic needs of the population concerning the water issue and to supply regions that have no access to water or sanitation systems.

Rotoplas will concentrate a majority of its efforts on integrated water solutions, which are a very efficient way of improving the quality of life of those customers that most need it, and also represent an attractive business opportunity.

Consequently, EBITDA for individual solutions contracted by 6.4% with respect to the prior year and the margin stood at 14.1%. On the other hand, EBITDA for integrated solutions grew 137.9%, resulting from the shift described above, and EBITDA margin was 10.1%.

 

We have four different types of production facilities where we make the products we offer our clients: rotomolding plants, where we produce the majority of the water solutions by means of a rotomolding rotational process; raw materials plants, where we produce the raw materials used in the rotomolding plants; injection plants, which produce the majority of the components and accessories used in the water storing and treatment solutions, and the extrusion plant, were the hydraulic pipes, sanitation pipes, and some of the water carrying solutions are produced, as well as their accessories.

 

Moving forward, Rotoplas will concentrate a majority of its efforts on integrated water solutions, which are a very efficient way of improving the quality of life of those customers that most need it, and also represent an attractive business opportunity.

We installed 11,150 outdoor composting bathrooms and 11,150 water harvesting systems to benefit more than 22 thousand families.

Additionally, to maintain our position on the forefront of our sector, at Rotoplas we apply a program to research and develop new technologies through our own research and development center, CID, to create innovative water solutions and improve both existing solutions and production processes. This allows us to expand our product mix and reduce operating costs, while at the same time optimizing operations and adapting to the changing needs of our customers and technological advances. Every new water solution is developed through a design and testing process and, once it satisfies the proper quality standards and market research has been conducted, we start commercializing it in a specific country or market.

 

The CID was responsible for launching our integrated water solutions development platform for products such as the outdoor composting bathrooms, drinking fountains, rainwater harvesting systems, wastewater treatment plants, and purifying plants, all of which have changed the lives of people that lacked access to drinking water, sanitation, and sewage systems. Innovation has played a key role in the growth of Rotoplas since its very beginnings, starting with revolutionizing the market with its polyethylene water tanks and cisterns that substituted the water tanks made of asbestos and the cisterns made of concrete, which were all heavy, unsafe, costly, and difficult to install.

 

Particularly relevant in 2014 was Rotoplas’ collaboration with the Cruzada Contra el Hambre (Crusade against Hunger), a social well-being strategy in Mexico that unites the efforts and resources of the federal, state and municipal governments in Mexico, with those of the social and private sectors, and international organisms and institutions. In early 2014, we successfully completed the task we had begun in November 2013 to install over 11,150 outdoor composting bathrooms and 11,150 rainwater harvesting systems, benefiting more than 22 thousand families.

 

Additionally, we took part in the federal government’s initiative that forces schools in Mexico to have an adequate number of fountains to uninterruptedly provide free drinking water in order to encourage students to drink water instead of sodas or sugary beverages to try to reduce high rates of childhood obesity and diabetes. In 2014, we installed 266 water fountains and directly or indirectly were allocated seven government bids, with an estimated value of 53 million pesos, under which we are also obligated to service the water fountains we sold.

Brazil, where we have been present since 2001, is our second most important source of revenue. We have two divisions through which we sell our products in that country: Acqualimp Brasil, in charge of selling individual and integrated water solutions, and APC, which focuses on serving government contracts. As of December 31, 2014, we had seven rotomolding facilities located in the states of Alagoas, Bahía, Ceará, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, and Piauí and a raw materials (compounding) facility located in the state of Bahia.

 

In that country we have put our experience to use in collaborating with the Agua para Todos (Water for All) government program, and revolutionized the market with our polyethylene cisterns. In only three years, we installed the same number of polyethylene cisterns as cement cisterns had been installed in the previous 10 years. In the context of the Agua para Todos program coordinated by the Department of Domestic Integration the goal is to provide rainwater harvesting systems to 750 families affected by water scarcity in the Brazilian semi-arid regions. Out of this amount, approximately 300 thousand families have already benefited from our polyethylene cisterns with rainwater harvesting technology, which offers them better health and quality of life.

In September 2014, we entered the US market for the first time ever, by beginning operations to sell individual water storing solutions such as water tanks for industry and agriculture, in the states of Arizona, California, and Nevada. At year-end, we had installed a rotomolding facility located in central San Joaquin Valley, in the state of California.

 

In terms of our marketing efforts, we reinforced our communications to strengthen the brand and position it at the international level; projected brand strategic growth for the long-term; generated a change in the Rotoplas brand perception that transcends the idea that we are only the most popular maker of water tanks in Mexico; offered the complete individual and integrated water solutions portfolio to show the current reach of the brand; and built a broad differentiation within the business units to set the foundations for recognition that will allow Rotoplas to behave as an international brand. Our main registered trademarks are Rotoplas, Tuboplus, and Acqualimp, which correspond to the water solutions that represent the largest sales volume in Mexico and abroad.