Sibelco goes shopping in Ukraine

Material solutions leader Sibelco has announced the acquisition of two clay producers in the Donbass region of Ukraine.

Sibelco has announced that it has formally completed the acquisition of Ukrainian clay producers Euromineral LLC and Kurdyumovsky Plant PrJSC, located in the Donbass region.

The Belgian multinational had reached an agreement to buy these activities at the end of 2019. The companies will be managed by Sibelco’s Tiles, Engobes and Engineered Stone business line. The acquisition will enable the group to strengthen its long-term sustainability profile by increasing Ukrainian mining capacity and clay reserves, an important raw material for porcelain tile production worldwide.

Sibelco is a long-standing leader in clays for the ceramics and tile industry and produces clays in Ukraine, UK, Germany, Russia and Indonesia. Its operations are supported by applied technology laboratories in Europe and Asia. The acquisition of Euromineral and Kurdyumovsky Plant adds a further 400,000 tonnes of annual capacity to Sibelco’s product portfolio.

The market for tiles and ceramics is evolving rapidly with growing demand for high-end ceramics products such as slabs and technical porcelain tiles and increasing demand for whiter, wider and more wear-resistant tiles. The best quality raw materials for the tile industry are without question Ukrainian clays, which offer a number of advantages including high mechanical and bonding strength and the ability to guarantee reduced linear shrinkage and consequently superior flatness in the case of large sizes.

Sibelco’s PREMIERE® clays also provide benefits such as high fusibility features that reduce the final porosity of the ceramic body and increase the speed of the firing cycle; a white-firing colour which improves the colour of fired tiles thereby reducing the usage of engobe in porcelain glazed tiles; a low level of organic matter that allows a fast firing cycle. All of these benefits contribute to superior products and an increased production yield for customers.