Kemira has acquired the Russian company Pigment Corporation's water chemicals operations. Kemira will also build an advanced water chemicals production line in St. Petersburg.

The ownership of Pigment's water chemicals operations will be transferred from a jointly owned company exclusively to Kemira after required permits are secured.

Kemira will also build a new water chemicals production line in St. Petersburg. The combined value of the acquisition and new facility will be approximately EUR 10 million.

Water treatment in St. Petersburg is a significant step for Kemira and the agreement reinforces the company's position in the Baltic basin water chemicals market. One of the Group's key strategic goals is to expand its water treatment chemicals business.

Kemwater believes in strong business growth

Kemira's exports of water chemicals to Russia started in the 1990s. Future production will support the development of drinking and waste water treatment in all of Northwestern Russia.

The company's Kemwater unit believes that the development of Russia's water utilities represents an opportunity for strong business growth. At the moment Kemira is Europe's largest supplier of coagulants.

Capacity to be doubled

The Russian Pigment company manufactures both solid and liquid aluminium sulphate in St. Petersburg. The St. Petersburg water utility, GUP Vodokanal Sankt Peterburga, is Kemira's biggest customer.

Kemira will start to immediately plan for a new production line with the goal of nearly doubling the plant's current capacity. Production is expected to begin toward the end of 2003.

At present, Vodokanal provides water services to the nearly five million residents of St. Petersburg. The company was founded as recently as 1978. It currently treats two million cubic meters per day, but roughly one million more goes untreated.

Kemira's new production line uses ferrous sulphate produced as a by-product at its Pori titanium oxide plant as raw material, which will be refined into advanced water treatment chemicals. This model serves both drinking and waste water treatment facilities.

Kemira's chemicals sales totalled some EUR 900 million in 2001, approximately 18% of which consisted of Kemwater's water treatment chemicals. Kemwater has manufacturing facilities in over 30 countries.

>> Finland and neighbours invest in cleaning up the Baltic (7.6.2002)

>> www.kemira.com

 Before water is potable, various chemicals and methods such as coagulation, precipitation, sedimentation, filtration and oxidation are used.
Photo: Kemira