Stephan Schmidt Group celebrates 75th anniversary

Experience, reliability, R&D and technological investments are the key factors underpinning the growth of the German group, which today produces 1.5 million tonnes/year of raw materials mined in 20 company-owned quarries.

Stephan Schmidt, one of the world’s leading producers of special clay and industrial minerals, celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. Founded in 1947, the group has always been a family business and is now run by the third generation represented by Stephan Schmidt, the founder’s grandson.

With 20 company-owned clay pits (mainly in the Westerwald region) with guaranteed resources for generations to come, state-of-the art extraction and processing facilities and a dedicated team of 200 employees, the Dornburg-Langendernbach-based group produces more than 1.5 million tonnes of raw materials every year, which are delivered to customers in more than 40 countries worldwide with an export share of over 60%.

The extensive product catalogue combined with a constant commitment to R&D and innovation enables the company to supply its raw materials to all segments of the ceramic industry (ceramic tiles, sanitaryware, tableware, refractories, bricks and roof tiles), as well as the technical ceramics sector served under the ACM® - Advanced Clay Minerals brand.

One of the German group’s most important foreign markets is Italy, where its two subsidiaries Ceramat and Progind International, both located in Castelnuovo Rangone (province of Modena), have for decades been supplying raw materials to tile producers based in the Emilia region and sanitaryware manufacturers in other areas of the country.

The company’s growth throughout its 75 years of history has been sustained not only by its enormous experience, but also by the reliability and continuity it has demonstrated towards its customers, business partners and employees. Well aware of the environmental impact of its mining activities, the group has long been committed to the conservation of natural resources and to the sustainable management of raw materials and the environment. To mark its 75th anniversary, it has published its first sustainability report and launched a programme to plant 75,000 native trees in its local region.

The Stephan Schmidt Group will be present at Tecna 2022 (Rimini, 27-30 September), Hall B7, Booth 154.