Kemira Oyj - Pori

Acid Plant Database March 2, 2022

Owner	Kemira Oyj
Location	Titaanitie FI-28840 Pori Finland
Background	-
Website	www.kemira.fi www.kemira.com
Plant	-
Coordinates*	61° 34' 31" N, 21° 33' 13" E
Type of Plant	Sulphur Burning
Gas Source	Liquid Sulphur
Plant Capacity	750 MTPD
SA/DA	DA
Emissions	-
Status	Shutdown
Year Built	1992
Technology	Outotec
Contractor	Outotec
Remarks	-
Pictures
General	The Pori titanium dioxide plant is a chemical plant in Kaanaankorvi, Pori, owned by Venator in the United States. The original owner of the factory, founded in 1957, was the Finnish state-owned company Vuorikemia Oy. Since then, it has also operated under the names Kemira Pigments, Sachtleben Pigments and Huntsman Pigments. The plant produces titanium dioxide, which is used in the paint and cosmetics industries, as well as in the production of printing inks. The factory's annual output is 130,000 tons, of which 95 percent is exported. The factory has about 450 employees. The factory will cease operations by 2021. The factory was established in 1957 as a state-owned company under the name Vuorikemia Oy. Its purpose was to launch a completely new industry in Finland, which would be based mainly on domestic natural resources. It was decided to start the production of titanium dioxide so that the Finnish paint industry could use domestic raw materials. Another reason was that the Rautaruukki Otanmäki mine in Kajaani produced the ilmenite needed in the production process. It caused serious environmental problems in the vicinity of the mine, which were significantly reduced by the use of ilmenite at the Pori plant. It was difficult to start production in Pori because there was practically no know-how in the field in Finland. The production of titanium dioxide was technically a very demanding process, but eventually production was brought to full speed in 1962 according to a manufacturing method licensed from British Titan Products. In the same year, Vuorikemia Oy later became the owner of Rikkihappo Oy, known as Kemira, and continued to operate as a subsidiary. In the late 1960s, the factory also began to focus on exports, and by the next decade, 85 percent of production had already gone abroad. By the 1970s, the Vuorikemia plant had become the largest producer of titanium dioxide in the Nordic countries. In 1982, the factory was awarded the President of the Republic's Internationalization Award. In 1997, the pearl pigment production at the Pori plant was sold to Eckart-Werke, Germany, and Kemira Pigments focused on the production of titanium dioxide pigments. At the same time, the pearlescent pigment production at Kemira's Siilinjärvi mills was transferred to Pori. Eckart Pigments, on the other hand, sold most of Pori's production to India in 2011, and almost all of its personnel were laid off. In addition to Pori, the Group had production facilities in Duisburg and Krefeld, Germany. In September 2013, Rockwood sold the Pori plant to the American Huntsman Corporation. In January 2017, a fire broke out at the plant, causing tens of millions of euros in damage. That same spring, the plant was transferred to Huntsman's subsidiary Venator in the United States through ownership arrangements. Venator received more than EUR 470 million in insurance claims for the fire. In autumn 2018, Venator announced that it would close the plant by the end of 2021, until which time it will continue with reduced production. www.wikipe.wiki/wiki/fi/Kemira_Pigments
References	-
News	February 14, 2000 - The Kemira Group and the US-based Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation LLC have reached an agreement on the sale of Kemira's titanium dioxide pigment production units and related businesses in Savannah, Georgia, USA and in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The sale will be concluded through the sale of Kemira Holdings Inc. and Kemira Pigments B.V. The purchase price is approx. EUR 400 Million on a debt-free, cash-free basis. Net sales of the businesses involved in these transactions totalled approx. EUR 330 Million in 1999. They did not have any significant impact on the Kemira Group's operating income. The value of the agreement is approximately half the current market value of the Kemira Group. Kemira will book a pretax gain of approx. EUR 130 Million. The agreement is subject to final approval by competition authorities and completion of the applicable Dutch works council procedures. In line with its new strategy Kemira aims at a reduction in the cyclicality of its businesses. Kemira's revised strategy defines the Group's areas of growth to be pulp and paper chemicals, water treatment chemicals, as well as paints and coatings. Further core business areas will be specialty fertilizers and industrial chemicals. Through this transaction made public today Kemira proceeds with its new strategy, as the sale agreement covers the major part of Kemira's titanium dioxide pigments business that has been markedly the most cyclical among the Group's businesses. Kemira will hold on to the TiO₂ production unit in Pori as an independent company with the intention to integrate the unit into the industrial chemicals business and develop it on a long-term basis. Profitability is at a good level at the Pori plant. Pori will focus on their own areas of special expertise, i.e. pigments for printing inks and other specialty pigments (e.g. microcrystalline grades). Approximately 60 per cent of the sales from Pori go to the paints and paper industry.

MTPD - Metric Tonne per Day STPD - Short Ton per Day
MTPA - Metric Tonne per Annum STPA - Short Ton per Annum
SA - Single Absorption
DA - Double Absorption

* Coordinates can be used to locate plant on Google Earth


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