ASCOM launches 1st calcium carbonate factory in El- Minya

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ASCOM Carbonate and Chemical Manufacturing (ACCM), a subsidiary of ASCOM Geology and Mining, Citadel Capital’s platform company in the mining sector, has just announced the start of production at its new €20 million, 180,000 ton-per-annum calcium carbonate plant located in the Al-Matahara area in the El-Minya Industrial Zone.

The Minya calcium carbonate factory, ASCOM’s first foray into the industrial minerals sector, is in line with the Egyptian government’s recent emphasis on investment and job creation in Upper Egypt. The first phase of the project will provide 180 direct jobs and more than 1,000 indirect job opportunities.

“The government has also been promoting the establishment of new enterprises that can capitalize on the untapped mineral wealth found in the region,” said Citadel Capital Managing Director Karim Sadek. “With the new ASCOM operation, we have direct access to the largest deposit of calcium carbonate in the world — and it is of a quality that is second only to deposits found in Italy’s Carrara region,” he adds.

According to ASCOM Chairman Fayez Gress, the new 17,000 square meter factory will produce high-grade, 2-micron-specification calcium carbonate, an important industrial filling material that is used in the production of everything from paper, ceramics and glazing to paint, plastics and rubber.

“This is a generic product, but there are two factors that give us a competitive edge: The purity of the deposit and the technology that we use to grind it. To produce a high-quality product, large blocks of calcium carbonate must undergo a sophisticated grinding process to produce a fine powder that is consistent in particle size,” says Gress.

In addition to owning and operating the calcium carbonate plant, ACCM has also started operating its own 330,000 square meter calcium carbonate quarry located approximately 25 kilometers away from the manufacturing facility.

ACCM began construction on the Minya plant in October 2006 in partnership with Hosokawa Alpine, a leading German company specialized in grinding technology.

“By investing in top-quality European technology we will be providing the local market with a superior product that will raise the benchmark and create healthy competition on both price and quality,” says Gress.

The factory, which is located in a special Duty Free Zone, will dedicate approximately 50 percent of its production to export markets in Europe and the Gulf. The balance will be sold in the local market.

Commenting on the new direction that ASCOM is taking by investing in industrial minerals Sadek said, “When ASCOM was acquired by Citadel Capital in 2004 as a part of ASEC Group, the company’s overall strategy shifted when it was decided that more value could be created by leveraging their expertise to develop beyond their core business of mining.”

“With mining you are basically extracting raw material and supplying it to the customer, which means that you are capturing a very small portion of the value chain. By producing industrial minerals like calcium carbonate, we are doing what we do best and then taking one extra step in the value chain. Because of the abundance of good quality raw material, we believe that there is huge potential for calcium carbonate production in North Africa,” says Gress. 

The company plans to opportunistically invest in a number of similar plants while expanding production lines both in Egypt and the MENA region.  “We are proud to be an active participant in the economic development of this mineral-rich region of Upper Egypt and we look forward to expanding our lines of business both here and in other countries where our investments can be of benefit to local communities,” said Sadek.