KEMIRA TO ACQUIRE CALCIUM SULPHATE PIGMENT OPERATIONS OF SPANISH CARGAS BLANCAS

Kemira will acquire the calcium sulphate pigment operations of Cargas Blancas from Yesos Ibericos S.A., a part of the Spanish Uralita group. The Cargas Blancas production facility is located in Besalu, in north-eastern Spain. The annual production capacity of the facility is some 100,000 tons. The principal markets of Cargas Blancas are in Spain, France, Italy, and Morocco.

"The Cargas Blancas calcium sulphate will complement well the range of Kemira's pigments that are used in paper production", explains Business Unit Manager Mikael Kvist from Kemira's Pulp & Paper Chemicals. "Kemira already has calcium sulphate production in Siilinjärvi. The calcium sulphate produced by Cargas Blancas is used as a filler mainly in fine paper production, whereas the Siilinjärvi product is used primarily for coating paper. In addition, Kemira's production facilities in Pori manufacture titanium dioxide pigments, which are used in certain specialty papers.

Calcium sulphate pigments have superior advantages in comparison to traditional filler and coating materials. These are brightness, opacity, and printability of the paper. Because of the lower density of calcium sulphate compared to other mineral pigments, lighter paper can be produced. The filler content can be also increased by using calcium sulphate.

The relative share of pigments in paper is constantly growing as paper grades become increasingly upgraded. The annual growth rate of paper pigments in Europe has been some 5% during the last five years", continues Mikael Kvist. Of the global consumption of paper pigments, Western Europe has a share of 45%, North America 30%, and Asia 20%.

The business acquired will become part of Kemira's Spanish subsidiary Kemira Iberica S.A., and 25 persons will be transferred to the employ of Kemira.

The pulp and paper chemicals business has been defined as one of the core growth areas of Kemira. Kemira is a globally significant supplier of bleaching chemicals, specialty paper chemicals, and water treatment chemicals. The turnover of pulp and paper chemicals totals 350 million euros.

Kemira's net sales in 2000 totalled 2,486 million euros, and staff numbered 9,644.