The commissioning of a new furnace for the production of silicates has started at Żary, an investment worth PLN 80 million

Last weekend, after the successful heating of the furnace to the temperature of 1450 degrees Celsius and the feeding of the raw materials, the first batch of sodium silicate was manufactured - it was the crucial point of the commissioning phase of a new installation at the CIECH plant in Żary. Sodium silicate is a key raw material in the production of precipitated silica, from which, among others, energy-saving tires and cosmetics are manufactured. The commissioning and stabilisation of the furnace operation in order to achieve the assumed operating parameters will be completed in the next few days. The investment worth PLN 80 million will increase the sodium silicate production capacity of the CIECH Group by approx. 30%, up to approx. 240 thousand tonnes per year, and strengthen the position of the Polish chemical company as the largest supplier of this raw material in Europe.

The new furnace has better performance parameters and consumes less natural gas compared to the existing technology. The successful heating up of the new unit does not entail the completion of the investment. On the premises of the Żary plant, finishing works are carried out in the production halls, the completion of which is scheduled for December. However, this does not affect the continuity of production and the stabilisation of the operation of the new installation.

The construction of the new installation started at the beginning of July, and up to 200 people worked on the site. 1100 tonnes of steel, 3000 tonnes of ceramic materials and 800 cubic metres of concrete were allocated to the construction of the entire installation. The investment will partially use the existing infrastructure, which will contribute to the optimisation of the fixed costs of the plant.

- Thanks to the commitment of the team that has been working on the new investment in Żary for many months, we have been able to accelerate the furnace commissioning date, and as a result, the start of silicate production after modernisation. We expect that the sale from the new technological line will have a positive impact on the results of the Group's silicate business as of 2022 - we assume an increase in its revenues by approx. PLN 60 million per annum - says Robert Janeczko, Member of the Management Board of CIECH Vitrosilicon and Head of the Silicates business in the CIECH Group.

The construction of a modern, efficient and energy-saving furnace will be completed by the end of 2021, and the construction of new warehouses for finished products is planned for the beginning of the next year.

Increasing the production capacity of sodium silicates will strengthen the CIECH Group's leading position among suppliers of this raw material in Europe. Precipitated silica is produced from sodium silicates, which is necessary in the production of modern tires, cosmetics, paints and fillers for plastics. Apart from precipitated silica, silicates are used in the production of detergents and paper.

- The new investment does not only mean an increase in production capacity, but also higher production efficiency achieved with the application of the latest available technologies. This will enable us to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide per tonne of product by approx. 20% - emphasises Hubert Domaradzki, Member of the Management Board of CIECH Vitrosilicon.

According to external analytical centres, the precipitated silica market will grow by approx. 7% per annum in the coming years. The silicate production business has also proven to be relatively resilient to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CIECH Group sells its sodium silicates to European as well as North American and Asian countries.

Kontakt dla mediów:

Mirosław Kuk, Rzecznik Prasowy Grupy CIECH

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