Rituparna Mitra, Almatis Customer Service Representative, was invited to a ceremony at Coimbatore to accept the Honour of Excellence award on behalf of Almatis.

During the event, Saint Gobain praised Almatis for their supply performance during the pandemic and stated that through these efforts, they did not face any shortage of raw material, even while they were experiencing increased demand.

Since our first sales invoice in 2012, Almatis has catered to the needs, in addition to all technical and commercial support in the Brazilian market, being closer to our customers.

We are pleased to supply premium alumina products for the local manufacture of refractories, ceramics and polishing.

50 years ago, in December 1972, Morimura Bros., Inc. of Japan and Alcoa co-founded our Iwakuni Plant and called it Moralco, a combination of MORimura and ALCOa. Iwakuni Plant shipped the first product to our customer three years later, in 1975.

Today, Morimura Bros and Almatis continue to enjoy a great partnership together.  Almatis Limited proudly produces the highest quality T60 and T162 tabular alumina products that support high performance industrial products.  Together, we offer the entire Almatis portfolio of aggregates, calcines and cement products to the Japanese, South Korea and other global markets.

For more information, visit our page https://www.almatis.com/document-service/product-data-safety-data-sheets/

This investment is the first of its kind in India, adding a completely new sintered tabular processing plant to the existing sizing facility.  Almatis India operations is now fully independent in their sourcing and supply chain requirements for the Indian market.

“Almatis is proud to have established the first integrated tabular operation in India, and is committed to being a reliable supplier and partner to our customers.  This is a significant milestone showing Almatis commitment to being a reliable supplier and partner to our customers and also for tabular alumina supply to the Indian market.”, Almatis CEO Anιl Sönmez stated in his welcome speech.

Many experts from other Almatis plants around the world brought in their long experience and deep knowledge to now produce in India the accustomed reliable quality.

The history of Almatis business activities in India goes back to 1995 when a joint venture was founded by Alcoa and Associated Cement Companies Limited India (ACC). In 2007 Almatis purchased the remaining stake in the JV to form a 100%-owned subsidiary.

With sales offices in Kolkata and Singapore, technical support from a local R&D lab in Kolkata, and support from the Almatis global network, Almatis India operations is well positioned to meet the increased demand of the refractory and steel markets for the upcoming years.

At this year’s IREFCON – the 14^th India International Refractories Congress in Kolkata, India, held from November 16-18 – Almatis CEO, Anιl Sönmez, will give the opening speech at the welcome dinner.

During the two-and-a-half day Congress, Almatis technical experts, Dr. Andus Buhr and Shankha Chatterjee will give four technical papers.

• Suitability of chrome-free magnesia- spinel refractory for RH application
• Development performance alumina-spinel of high precast pre-fired refractory for tundish application
• The value of additives in silica fume containing refractory castables
• Formation of hexa-aluminate solid solution phases in spinel containing castables – Mineralogical investigations in the system CaO - Al2O3 – MgO

Visit Almatis at our booth to learn about our commitment to the Indian refractory market, or meet us during our technical presentations to learn about our newest creative and innovative ideas.

Customers who are concerned about sourcing sustainable raw materials can now receive certified CO2 equivalent emissions values for these products.

To receive the certificate of your Almatis product, please leave an information request at https://www.almatis.com/contact/information-request/.

Also during the scientific conference, Almatis experts will give technical presentations. On September 28, at 13:20, Rainer Kockegey-Lorenz, Application & Market Development Manager - Almatis Ludwigshafen, will give a presentation on “Review of dispersing alumina and the matrix advantage system 25 years after launch”. At the same hour, Stefan Kuiper, Application & Market Development Manager – Almatis Rotterdam, will present “Three decades of Alphabond 300: an overview of its technical advantages”

The International Colloquium on Refractories ICR® is a world-renowned event held annually in Aachen, Germany. The event consists of a scientific conference, a trade fair for refractory companies and suppliers of raw materials, machinery, services and knowledge to the refractory industry, and of a varied supporting programme and social event.

More details information can be found under https://ic-refractories.eu/

“Almatis is extremely honored to have been selected by Novelis for their Global Supplier Alliance award.” Stated Barbara Steuler, Chief Commercial Officer at Almatis.  “Almatis is focused on supporting and enhancing our customers’ business through quality products, and world-class service & technical support.  We are pleased to be partnered with Novelis and look forward to our continued relationship.”

The Novelis Global Supplier Awards recognize companies for quality performance and outstanding partnership that spurs sustainable innovation and supports supply chain resiliency. Winners were evaluated based on quality, delivery, sustainability, and innovation performance indicators, as well as the results of a stakeholder satisfaction survey and Sustainability and Innovation questionnaire. Over several thousand suppliers competed for the Alliance Awards. Thirteen (13) companies were selected for the Alliance Awards based on the Novelis’ regional nominations. Twenty five (25) companies were awarded for their quality performance recognized as Silver, Gold and Aluminum Awards.

“Novelis’ outstanding suppliers make it possible for us to transform aluminum into innovative, sustainable solutions for our customers,” said Roxana Molina, Chief Procurement Officer of Novelis. “We believe it’s important to recognize our suppliers that have gone to great lengths to provide quality goods and services that are essential to our continued growth and success. Each Novelis Global Supplier Award recipient is a shining example of quality and service, and we are glad to give them this well-deserved recognition.”

Almatis is the market leader in specialty alumina products & services for the refractories, ceramics, polishing, and specialty industries.  Almatis extra-low soda tabular aluminas play a key role in supporting Novelis to deliver innovative new products by providing reliable and quality bed supports.     

They discuss the impact of the overall purity level of alumina on its properties and how specific impurities or dopants impact specific properties more severe than other impurities or dopants. The dielectric loss is given as an example property that is significantly influenced by specific impurities. The awareness that specific impurities and certain combinations thereof have a larger impact on the properties of alumina than the overall purity opens up the possibility for a more economical solution to selectively avoid or remove impurities in alumina that are harmful for the targeted properties, depending on the application.

Refwin: Dear Ms. Barbara Steuler, thanks for the interview. Would you please give a brief introduction to Almatis’ history and its current business structure? 

Ms. Barbara Steuler: Almatis is the market leader in specialty alumina products and solutions for the high performance refractory and ceramics markets. At our core, we focus on customer centricity, innovative & sustainable products, operational efficiency, quality in everything we do, and the health & safety of our employees. 

In 2020, we adjusted our strategy to focus on speed & organizational efficiency to serve our customers’ needs. We executed this strategy throughout 2021, and despite all the supply-related challenges, were able to realize many improvements in our performance. 

Our 1000 employees operate nine industrial sites and six application and development centers, across all major regions of the world. Each major region has dedicated manufacturing facilities to meet market demand. Specific global products are produced in every region to secure quality and ensure supply to global customers. This allows our customers to source the same product & product quality in each region of the world. This is a very unique operational structure that we have in the market, which supports our overall business philosophy of being closer to our customers and serve them locally. The regionally-based operational footprint has been further strengthened in the past year by the commencement of our new tabular plant in India and the launch of our additional distribution center in Singapore for the South East Asian region. We continue to evaluate ways to further improve our sourcing position and maintain reliable supplies to our customers in all regions. 

Ms. Barbara Steuler, Chief Commercial Officer of Almatis GmbH

Refwin: What challenges did Almatis face during the COVID-19 pandemic and how have those challenges changed during the period of economic recovery? 

Ms. Barbara Steuler: COVID-19 had an major impact to our key markets of refractory and ceramics, which manufacture critical products for industries such as steel manufacturing, automotive, construction, glass, semiconductors and electronics.  The outbreak first impacted our China Operations in January 2020, which seems like so long ago, and yet the entire world is still dealing with this terrible pandemic. Our people in our operations, as well as those working from home, showed excellent work ethic and did an incredible job managing through the crisis, despite the daily challenges of volatile demand and a (mostly) home-office work environment. 

The recovery was very strong and started even earlier than we expected.  Demand returned already in September 2020, and throughout 2021 we produced at pre-crisis levels. Throughout 2021 we encountered many logistic and supply chain challenges, which unfortunately have not subsided in 2022. Global logistics issues will continue to push the macro-trend towards regional sourcing and supply chains.  Almatis is well-positioned to manage this trend as we already have the largest regionally-based operational footprint in the industry, which has been further strengthened in the past year by the commencement of our new tabular plant in India and the launch of our additional distribution center in Singapore.  We continue to evaluate ways we can further improve our sourcing position and maintain reliable supplies to our customers in all regions. 

Refwin: What do you think will be the new development trends of alumina-based refractory raw materials in the global market or regional markets in the future?

Ms. Barbara Steuler: The development trends for refractory raw materials will focus around the need for reduced heat losses and improved operational efficiency.  Alumina-spinel refractories for steel ladle lining can reduce the heat losses by 10-20 Kelvin when compared to graphite-containing carbon bonded basic bricks, which saves energy, money and reduces CO2 emissions. Sustainable initiatives for steel production will be a main driver for the refractory market around the world. One example is the trend from traditional steel production via blast furnace to EAF technology, so that scrap can be used as direct feedstock. In the coming years and decades, direct reduction processes including hydrogen will eventually replace carbon-based reduction in blast furnaces. While many of the refractory solutions required to facilitate this trend are already available, Almatis is currently in partnership with many customers to develop additional products. We strongly believe that synthetic alumina-based raw materials will play an even more vital role to cope with the new process challenges, and are innovating around the concepts of improved performance, reduced CO2 footprint and sustainable solutions. 

Refwin: Almatis has been focusing on alumina materials, which seems to be a single product strategy. Do you plan to expand your business into other raw material or mineral offerings? 

Ms. Barbara Steuler: Almatis focuses on providing alumina and alumina-based products & solutions. With more than 500 different products into more than 50 end use markets, we have by far the broadest product portfolio in the specialty alumina industry globally.  While the majority of our products are alumina, we produce specialty aggregates and calcium aluminate cements as well.  Our specialty aggregate products include alumina and magnesia-rich spinels, brown sintered alumina, and superlight weight calcium aluminate aggregates. These products were developed into our portfolio because they add value to our customers, not because they were alumina-containing. These specialty aggregate offerings allow Almatis to provide a more complete and full-purpose portfolio for refractory manufacturers, regardless of the application conditions. A simple all-alumina based portfolio, for example tabular alumina, would not allow us to provide premium performance for slag lines or alkaline resistant products for glass or cement kilns..  We strive to offer as complete a portfolio as possible, and therefore continue to investigate additional mineral solutions that could complement and broaden our portfolio, and add value to the offerings we have for our customers.  When our customers in the refractory market need additional products and solutions, we invite those ideas and are open and eager to cooperate with them.

Refwin: What is your view on the global competitive landscape, and how it is changing? Specifically, how do you view the competitiveness of domestic manufacturing compared to imported goods and the role of regional vs global sourcing trends? 

Ms. Barbara Steuler: From a global standpoint, the refractory market Asia will continue to grow the strongest, driven by the development of key infrastructure projects requiring steel. While China has historically been the growth driver in that region, India is poised to take over the role of “market growth” and will demand significantly more refractory raw materials than in past years. We target to be the leader in alumina supply to the refractory industry in India, and our commitment is shown through our new fully integrated tabular plant. This state-of-the-art facility was successfully commissioned in Q4 2021, and is currently supplying the India market with locally-made quality tabular alumina products.  Shifts in regulations (e.g. green energy, climate change), global logistics challenges and digitalization are also creating many opportunities all around the world.  Those new trends will generate additional growth in the developed regions like Europe, North America and Japan, where the legacy growth drivers of steel and GDP contribute less in the long-term. 

It’s not clear if the logistics environment from the past 2 years is indicative of a new normal in the long-term, however it is clear that there was an over-dependence on an imported supply chains, and that dependence brought too much risk.  The COVID pandemic, Suez Canal blockage, container shortages, an overall lack of vessel capacity, and now again COVID-related port delays have caused customers and consumers of raw materials to struggle to maintain operations. No region has been immune from these impacts. Without a development towards regional manufacturing and supply, the level of supply chain risk is very high. For many customers, it is still their highest concern. We are actively addressing these concerns through regional capacity expansions, and additional warehousing. Some of our expansions are incremental at existing operations, while others are greenfield expansions in a regional market, such as our new fully integrated tabular plant in India. Facilities such as this will reduce dependence on regional supplies from Europe or Asia, and will further increase the supply security for our customers.  Our new distribution center in Singapore will further strengthen our supply chain, offering backup options and inventory into this region.

Refwin: What role will sustainability play in changing the refractory market? What challenges & opportunities will this create in the refractory industry?

Ms. Barbara Steuler: Sustainability is one of the trends that clearly accelerated during the pandemic. We are actively implementing sustainability measures and pursuing the necessary sustainability chain of custody, and carbon footprint certifications. Our corporate policy is to actively reduce or avoid energy consumptions, emissions, and waste. To succeed in this area, we actively evaluate technologies and methodologies that surpass regional and local regulatory requirements. While initially some of these changes require capital, it is an investment in our business that will pay dividends in the long-term. 

Through the years, Almatis launched many products that focused on sustainable advantages, environmental impact, health & safety. Some examples are our SLA-92 as a replacement for ceramic fiber products, which not only shows a significant lifetime improvement, but also improves the occupational condition. Our Bonite and Bonite low density products offered a substantial reduction in energy consumption in lining concepts. Further we have MR 66 magnesia-rich spinel that replace chrome ore in fired magnesia bricks for cement kilns and last October we launched ES-Y 88 in China to replace fine chrome oxide in gas purging plugs. BSA 96 is a regional offering to reduce dependency on imported BFA products, which reduces scope III emissions and further is lower density and reduces overall material consumption. 

We believe that regional-sourcing is a supply chain macro-trend that will remain.  Suppliers of raw materials that are able to manufacture in-region, will have an advantage of offering reduced CO2 footprints, simply based on logistics.  The logistics CO2 footprint for many intercontinental shipments can be reduced by up to 75%, by regional sourcing.  This represents a significant impact on overall CO2 emissions, considering the amount of refractory raw materials that are imported / exported around the world.

Refwin: Many businesses are transforming their business to become more digital in their services, supply chains and ordering. What is your view and plans for digitalization to support the refractory market?

Ms. Barbara Steuler: Digital tools are a great way to provide real-time information and improve transparency for customer interaction. The pandemic crisis accelerated the process of using digital tools and processes to efficiently run our business and we will continue on that path. Order entry, material availability & supply updates are critical parts of the supply chain so that customers can make the best decisions possible with regards to managing their demand. We have implemented Pull-Loop Systems with a few customers around the world, which is working very well. This can be done locally, regionally, and globally. The purpose of digitalization is not to simply implement a digital tool to replace an existing tool or application, but rather to ensure that overall interaction process is more simplified, efficient and user-friendly. We believe there is the potential to further improve our systems and also add information transparency through digitalization.  

Closing statement:
Thank you for the opportunity for this interview and hope it gives insight into Almatis, and how we strive to be a customer centric organization. We are confident about the future outlook for refractory raw materials and look forward to working with our customers in the refractory industry to address their new opportunities and find solutions for their future challenges.

Prior to his appointment as CEO, Mr. Sönmez was the Head of Eastern Hemisphere and member of the Global Management Committee of Clariant Oil Services, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Board Member of the Clariant-Tamimi joint-venture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. His previous responsibilities at Clariant included heading the Purification and Functional Adsorbents business groups, based in Munich, Germany.

Prior to Clariant, Mr. Sönmez worked for 9 years at the Borealis Group in various global management roles including finance, sales & marketing, new business development and circular economy solutions, based in Belgium and Austria.

Anıl Sönmez was born in 1983 in Bursa, Turkey.  He holds an Honors Master’s Degree in Business Administration from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, a Master’s Degree in Industrial Management from KU Leuven, Belgium and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.

We would like to have some details of the global business of Almatis. How did the company fare in the previous fiscal?

Almatis is the market leader in specialty alumina products and solutions for the high-performance refractory and ceramics markets. At our core, we focus on customer centricity, innovative & sustainable products, operational efficiency, quality in everything we do, and the health & safety of our employees.

Our 1,000 employees operate nine industrial sites and six application and development centres across all major regions of the world. Each major region has dedicated manufacturing facilities to meet market demand. Specific global products are produced in every region to secure quality and ensure supply to global customers. This allows our customers to source the same product and product quality in each region of the world.

The global business in 2021 was very strong, as market demand returned even earlier than market predictions and our own expectations. Demand started an upward curve already in September 2020, and throughout 2021, we produced at prepandemic levels. Throughout 2021, we encountered many logistic and supply chain challenges, which unfortunately have not subsided in 2022. Global logistics issues will continue to push the macro-trend towards regional sourcing and supply chains. All regions and markets recovered and even exceeded 2019 business levels, and we adjusted our strategy to focus on speed and organisational efficiency to serve our customers’ needs. We executed this strategy throughout 2021 and, despite all the supplyrelated challenges, were able to realise many improvements in our performance. Almatis is well-positioned to manage this trend as we already have the largest regionally-based operational footprint in the industry, which has been further strengthened in the past year by the commencement of our new tabular plant in India and the launch of our additional distribution centre in Singapore for the South East Asian region. We continue to evaluate ways we can further improve our sourcing position and maintain reliable supplies to our customers in all regions.

How is the global market for alumina at the moment? Which industry is projected to become the biggest end-user for aluminas in the future? Do you foresee any new end-user for aluminas?

The refractory market will continue to grow the strongest, driven by the development of key infrastructure projects requiring steel, and the Asian region will lead this growth. While China has historically been the growth driver in that region, India is poised to take over the role and will demand significantly more refractory raw materials than in past years. We target to be the leader in alumina supply to the refractory industry in India, and our commitment is shown through our new fully integrated tabular plant. Shifts in regulations (e.g. green energy, climate change), global logistics challenges and digitalisation are also creating many opportunities all around the world. Those new trends will generate additional growth in the developed regions like Europe, North America and Japan, where the legacy growth drivers of steel and GDP contribute less in the long term.

The development trends for refractory raw materials will focus on the need for reduced heat losses and improved operational efficiency. Alumina-spinel refractories for steel ladle lining can reduce the heat losses by 10-20 Kelvin when compared to graphite-containing carbon bonded basic bricks, which saves energy and money and reduces CO₂ emissions and complements ‘clean’ steelmaking. Sustainable initiatives for steel production will be the main driver for the refractory market around the world. One example is the trend from traditional steel production via blast furnace to EAF technology so that scrap can be used as direct feedstock. In the coming years and decades, direct reduction processes, including hydrogen, will eventually replace carbonbased reduction in blast furnaces.

Specifically for the Indian market, the technological aspects in refractory engineering are changing rapidly in both product design and ease of installation, thereby driving the usage of higherperforming tabular and synthetic aluminas across the value chain.

While many of the refractory solutions required to facilitate this trend are already available, Almatis is currently in partnership with many customers to develop additional products to help their products withstand even more stringent and corrosive working environments. As the technological, we strongly believe that synthetic alumina-based raw materials will play an even more vital role to cope with the new process challenges, and are innovating around the concepts of improved performance and lining life, reduced CO₂ footprint and sustainable solutions.

You are setting up a new plant in India that would manufacture specialty alumina. Please give us some details on the facility.

Our new tabular plant in India is a state-of-the-art Tabular manufacturing facility that was successfully commissioned at the end of 2021. The plant is ramping up operations towards full capacity this year, and in January 2022, we started supplying the Indian market with locally-made global quality tabular alumina products. The drivers for establishing this integrated tabular making facility at Falta, West Bengal, were our strong footprint in the region for over 2 decades as well as long term association and trust from the customers. With Indian steel demand and production, together with non-ferrous and allied industries, projected to continuously rise, leveraging on the infrastructural and urban developmental plans, it was imminent that a local facility would secure the growing tabular alumina demand envisaged for the coming years.

Are the products manufactured in the new plant going to cater to the Indian market?

The products manufactured at our new plant are focused on supplies to the domestic Indian market, but being a global product, the plant can be a source for the nearby South Asian region as well. We predict that the Indian iron and steel market will continue to grow strong – driving the high performing special refractory requirements, and the advanced steelmaking technologies will demand the usage of tabular alumina aggregates in various applications. Further, the congregation of global refractory players in India makes the region a long-term growth centre, and we are excited to offer locally produced tabular alumina products to cater to this progress.

How much imports will be substituted by the products manufactured from the Falta plant?

Almatis has historically supplied much of the Indian market from our European operations. Initially, a supply chain of European tabular alumina will remain available while the plant ramps up to full capacity. Our final goal, however, is to have an independent operation in India that is able to supply the market demand and does not require supplemental tabular from other regions. With more than 500 different products in more than 50 end-use markets, we have by far the broadest product portfolio in the specialty alumina industry globally. We will continue to import calcined and reactive aluminas, calcium aluminate cements, magnesium aluminate spinels and dispersing agents to complement our domestically produced tabular and continue to offer our customers a full portfolio of high-performance products. The local base for tabular alumina will be a big boost for the market in terms of reliability of supplies, management of logistic uncertainties and most importantly, instill the confidence in the market that a global product is now available next door.

With the new plant, what will be Almatis’ contribution towards ‘Make in India’?

Our new plant in India makes a strong statement towards the “Make in India” movement. We are eager to continue this trend and bring domestic manufacturing to the tabular raw material market. The plant will not only be a flagship operation for our company, but also be a platform for additional products and innovations in the future. This new facility supports our existing operational strategy to be closer to our customers, and further is strengthened by the global trend towards regional & local manufacturing, with a focus on local supply chains.