Serbian slag on the European market - Kikinda-based Salgor delivers slag to Athens-based tennis and athletic fields producer

Perhaps Novak Djokovic did not succeed in taking over the title of the king of slag at Roland Garros last weekend but Serbia definitely had an opportunity to become one of the leading countries in production of this tennis soil.

Due to increased tennis popularity, profitable business, quality raw material or some other reason, the number of companies producing this material is on the increase. And, not just that - products of some of them are in the top producers list of this tennis soil.

True example is Kikinda-based Salgor which introduced production of slag, which is used at running paths, trim paths and bowling courts apart from tennis fields two years ago.

During that time, the slag became famous in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland and Slagor’s slag has recently been used by one Athens-based company which is, due to Kikinda-based Salgor’s slag quality, willing to pay transport to Greece more than it pays for goods.

In her interview for eKapija, Valentina Stokic, owner and General Manager in Salgor says that talks on cooperation in Athens have been lasted for a year. Checks of quality of slag from Kikinda in their labs, checks of production capacities and liquidity of the company were carried out before the beginning of cooperation last year.

- They were more than satisfied with the references we got so the transports costs which, in their case, total more than the value of purchased goods, did not influence their decision to buy slag from Kikinda. We also made business cooperation in Greek capital with three famous tennis clubs so tennis in Athens is mostly played on Serbian slag.

Made in Kikinda

Salgor was set up in 2002 in Kikinda with pcore activity of wholesales of water supply system and sewerage material and is still doing it. Kikinda is the city in Banat plain called the capital of clay and tile. Therefore, Stokic points out that it has been the most logical thing, owing to clay and tile as basic raw material, slag production started.

- The idea on slag placement originated from the analysis results of our basic raw material in our surroundings and analysis of demand for products that can be made of these raw materials. The area of Kikinda has all preconditions for the most quality clay widely known tile has been made of.

Still, raw material of high quality from Kikinda company is not the only reason.

-With raw materials during the processing, i.e. production itself, we achieved great results in granulation precision. To make transport easier, as well as warehousing and manipulation of slag on tennis fields, and in order to prevent dissipation, we pack slag in high quality LDPE bags of 25 kg.

Salgor produces slag in granulations of od 0-1mm, 0-2mm, 0-3mm, 0-4mm, 0-5mm, 0-6mm, 0-8mm, 0-10mm i 0-12mm with an option of producing it in granulations customers need.

- So far, we have dedicated ourselves only to slag, maintaining the quality, increasing production and expanding the market. We cooperate with a large number of companies which produce tennis fields and athletic trims. We can always provide an information to all interested on who to turn to for this kind of service.

European but ours first

Since their presence is relatively short, Salgor is extremely satisfied with their stake and image of the product at the market.

Slag for Kikinda-based section found its place at the tennis filed Serbia-wide, found customers in the neighboring countries and after that in Europe.

- Although there is a large number of tennis fields in Serbia it is still not enough to have fully employed production. Therefore, we searched for potential customers outside the boundaries of our country. Our samples were found in labs of Austria, Germany, the Chezc Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland, France and they are all delighted with the quality of our slag. At the moment we are negotiating and we hope to enter the successful cooperation with customers there.

The greatest market troubleshot this goods encounters, according to Stokic, are high transport expenses in comparison to goods value because it is transported only by trucks.

However, regardless of the breakthrough to foreign market, the fact that tennis is played all over Europe on Salgor’s slag as well as of potential the company has on the old continent, Stokic says that the pleasure of domestic customers who buy or the number they have, their best advertising in the past years.

Slow soil

Slag tennis fields are the most common fields. Game comfort is their main feature. They are listed in the slow soils because due to big friction, a tennis ball rebound speed is lower, a ball rebounds higher and more predictably than at other courts. It is more convenient for tennis players who prefer playing from the basic line and precise, deep strikes. The construction of a slag tennis field is cheaper than a filed with other soils.

The most famous tournament on this kind of field is Roland Garros, played in Paris.

I.B.