Although the economists are telling us that the global crisis has ebbed, the recovery is at best fragile in most of the western world. The public dialogue is increasingly focusing on long-term resilience and sustainability: of the financial system, of the market economy, of the environment, of our societies. In this context, our approach to corporate social responsibility acquires increased significance. By embedding sustainability and stakeholder engagement in our values, attitudes and processes in such a way that it forms an integral part of our way of doing business, we are contributing both to society while – at the same time – improving the long-term viability of the Titan Group.

In 2010 we continued and further strengthened our efforts for self-improvement in all three of our priority areas: safety at work, environmental sustainability and engagement with our stakeholders.

We are pleased to report that we achieved a further 12% reduction in our accident frequency rate in 2010 compared to 2009. Moreover, no fatalities or serious accidents were recorded throughout the year and the construction of the Antea cement plant in Albania was completed without a single serious lost time injury out of a total of 4.5 million working hours. We acknowledge that reaching and maintaining a culture of accident prevention in all our operations is an on-going effort and that we will continue endeavoring to learn and improve.

With regard to our commitment to environmental sustainability, we remain focused on our five-year targets as set out for the Group in 2009.

In 2010 our carbon footprint sligthly improved further for our clinker production (as compared to 2009) yet worsened for our cement production. That was due to our production increase in markets, such as Albania and Egypt, where neither legislation nor demand favour blended cements. In addition, competitive pressures for imports of non-blended cements from countries not subjected to carbon restrictions influenced this outcome. We are however determined to keep the adverse impact of our operations on the environment to a minimum and to keep on investing in order to ensure that we will deliver on our commitments.

All our production units remain focused on further optimization of energy efficiency, minimization of emissions and of dependence on conventional fuels, improvement of the environmental management systems and better understanding and measurement of the product life-cycle.

In 2010 we strengthened our stakeholder engagement efforts with our employees, local communities, authorities and other key stakeholders. As a result of our engagement process and in partnership with other companies, we embarked on extensive safety awareness building and training programs for contractors.

In cooperation with the United Nations Development Program we organized the first ever Stakeholders’ Communication Day in F.Y.R.O.M. and successfully completed the first year of the collaborative program with the U.N. World Food Program in Egypt.

The last decade has been a period of significant developments in the area of corporate social responsibility. It has been one of evolution, self-learning, self-improvement and engagement. Joining and committing to the U.N. Global Compact and the Cement Sustainability Initiative of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development have encouraged this process. The 2010 Report is thus an opportunity to review the progress achieved in this long-term endeavor.

Despite the continuing uncertainties in the markets in which we operate and short-term setbacks in meeting our goals, we remain committed to earning the long-term backing of our shareholders and stakeholders alike.

Dimitri Papalexopoulos
Chief Executive Officer