Global focus P-D Refractories

GLOBAL FOCUS GLOBAL FOCUS

P-D Refractories CZ a.s. is a leading producer and supplier of refractory products and raw materials. Despite severe competition in the sector, the company maintains its strong position in global markets. Romana Moares spoke to managing director Tomáš Kožoušek about the latest developments and plans for the future.

The Czech company P-D Refractories CZ, headquartered in Velké Opatovice, is a member of the German P-D (Preiss-Daimler) Group, a global player in various sectors employing over 4000 staff worldwide. Its core business is the production and delivery of materials for complete or partial lining of thermal aggregates, especially coke ovens, glass furnaces, electrolytic cells for the primary production of alumina and others.

Solid tradition

The company currently operates four refractory material production units in: Velké Opatovice (Old and New Fireclay Plant), Svitavy (‘Dinaska’ Silica Plant), Březina (‘Anna’ Sintering Plant) and Březinka (Mining). There are also two more units with different production programmes, namely the Service Division and the Landfill Division. The Service Division is a general contractor supplying moulds for the factories within the P-D Group.

The history of the Velké Opatovice plant goes back over 100 years. Current annual production capacity is 100,000 tonnes and includes a wide range of high quality products, such as refractory mastics, castables and magnetite bricks for night-storage heaters. The Svitavy plant, the most modern of the four (comissioned in 1985), makes silica and chimney pipes and has anannual capacity of 30,000 tonnes. The Březina mine is located about 10km from Velké Opatovice and its history goes back to the middle of the 19th century. Mining was discontinued here but shaft furnaces are still in operation. Over 50 per cent of the mining capacity for raw and fired clays is used directly in the Velké Opatovice plants. The fourth unit is a clay deposit site in Březinka.

Meeting customer demands

P-D Refractories’ product range is varied and includes fireclay bricks, high-alumina bricks, silica bricks, insulating bricks, refractory clays and grog, magnetite bricks for night-storage heaters, ceramic chimney pipes, refractory mortars, mastics and castables. The company is equipped with modern production technology and testing equipment, which guarantees the consistent high quality of its output. Customers include such renowned names as Arcelor Mittal, Nippon Steel, US Steel, Voestalpine, Stiebel Eltron, Asahi Glass, AGC, Saint Gobain, Vetropack, Alcoa, Paul Wurth, Zapel and so on.

Almost 80 per cent of the annual output is exported. Traditionally, the largest territory in terms of sales is Germany, where P-D Refractories CZ has its own customers or participates as a sub-contractor in projects with Preiss-Daimler’s sister companies. However, its products have a much further reach: other important markets include Poland, France, Italy and many other EU countries. Individual deliveries have also been made to the United States, Japan and China. In this sense, P-D Refractories CZ is a true global player.

Prestigious contracts

Two years ago P-D Refractories significantly increased capacity, as well as staff numbers, as a result of two new contracts: the first one, for two coke batteries delivered to the Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel and worth over half a billion CZK, was historically the largest ever corporate contract concluded by the company; the second, for a coke battery worth 100 million CZK, was signed for a domestic steelmaker.

“This demand necessitated exceptional measures. It was necessary to gradually increase the number of employees – by more than a hundred workers and four design engineers – as well as building a new workshop for mould production including all technology installation. The contract also accelerated the long desired expansion of storage areas, including their roofing,” says the managing director.

The two contracts resulted in a record-breaking production of nearly 86,000 tonnes of fireclay, silica, and magnetite blocks and chimney pipes, representing an annual increase of 126 per cent. Finished and semi-finished product stock also increased significantly.

The Japanese contract has just been completed, with the last delivery shipped in April, but capacity will not be under-utilised as the company has just signed another contract for a coke battery to be delivered to Poland.

Looking ahead

Investments reached CZK 140 million last year; the highest ever in the company’s history. A new furnace was purchased and installed in the Svitavy plant, and the eight-year renewal of press technology was completed.

The company also managed to implement technologies for processing fine, waste clays into briquettes for further use in various applications. “The waste clay used to be deposited in heaps, now it is processed into a useful product. For this, we installed a new processing line worth over CZK 50 million,” says the managing director.

Despite a relative stagnation in the steel and aluminium industry, he has no reason to worry about the future. The core competitive advantage of P-D Refractories CZ, aside from an impressive list of satisfied customers, is the fact that it has its own raw materials, which it also supplies to sister companies within the group. Furthermore, the company produces all required moulds – a competence which very few competitors have. The wide product portfolio is a sound base to cover any potential fluctuations in sectoral demand.

Mr Kožoušek reveals that in the near future there may be a new system for distributing tasks within the group, to increase effectiveness and productivity. The way forward, though, is based on innovation and the development of new materials. “We want to introduce new refractory materials which would fully meet customers’ requirements. Anyone can invent the perfect material, but to do so at an affordable price is an entirely different matter. Innovative materials for a good price – that’s the way we want to go,” he concludes. n