Grupo Villar Mir engages in its activities in the Electrometallurgy Sector through Grupo Ferroatlántica.
Grupo Ferroatlántica is the worldwide leading producer of silicon metal (14% of the world´s production) and one of the most important producers of ferroalloys in the world.
It has 46 furnaces, with installed power of 1,024 MW.
It holds a diversified product portfolio with production capacity slightly over one million three hundred tons per year for its main products:
Si metal |
SiMn |
FeMn |
FeSi |
Micro silicon |
Others (*) |
TOTAL |
292,000 |
254,000 |
213,000 |
250,000 |
171,000 |
126,000 |
1,306,000 |
(CaSi, electrode paste, inoculants, nodularisers and pulverised materials)
Since 1998, when Grupo Ferroatlántica purchased FerroVen, it has based its strategy on strong international expansion.
The Group currently has fifteen production centres in five countries: six in France, one in Venezuela, two in South Africa and one in China.
The Group has been established worldwide with:a solid presence in Western Europe. a high rate of penetration in the US and Canadian markets.The second main feature of its strategy is its firm support for R&D&i as the most effective means of maintaining a high degree of competitiveness in an increasingly global market. Proof of this is its significant technological capacity in one of the most promising sectors for the future: the silicon metal sector.
The Electrometallurgy Division carries out Grupo Villar Mir’s activities in the ferroalloys and silicon metal sectors. The Electrometallurgy Division achieved a total turnover of EUR 1,048 million in 2013, with a 4.6% drop from the EUR 1,099 million earned in 2012. The Division contributed 16% to the total consolidated turnover of Grupo Villar Mir.
ORIGINS OF THE ELECTROMETALLURGY DIVISION
The Electrometallurgy Division was created in 1992 when Ferroatlántica, S.A. joined Grupo Villar Mir when it acquired, from the North American multinational company Air Products, the hydroelectric energy production, ferroalloys and silicon metal businesses conducted by Carburos Metálicos, S.A. (Subsidiary of the American multinational company Air Products.) From then on, investments were made with the aim of improving efficiency and productivity in various areas of the company, fostering expansion and vertical integration in the quartz mining business, leading Grupo Ferroatlántica, the head of the Division, to become the current leading producer of silicon metal in the world and one of the main ferroalloy producers worldwide.
COMPOSITION OF GRUPO FERROATLÁNTICA
The following companies report to Grupo Ferroatlántica, S.A., the head of the Electrometallurgy Division, either directly or indirectly:
Ferroatlántica, S.A., is the Group’s parent company in Spain. It engages in the production and sale of ferroalloys and silicon metal, has three plants in Galicia and one in Cantabria, and also produces and sells hydroelectric energy produced at the seven hydroelectric power stations in the Jallas and Grande river basins (La Coruña) and two regulating reservoirs
Hidro Nitro Española, S.A., is a company that engages in the production of special ferroalloys at its plant in Monzón (Huesca) and the generation of electric energy, through its five power stations located in the Cinca and Esera river basins (Huesca).
Ferroatlántica de Venezuela (Ferroven), S.A., a company in which Ferroatlántica has an 80% holding, is the owner of a ferroalloys plant in Puerto Ordaz (Venezuela) that primarily caters to the US, Canadian and Mexican markets.
FerroPem, S.A.S. (until June 2005, its registered name was Pechiney Électrométallurgie, S.A.S.), formerly the ferroalloy and silicon metal production division of the French group, Pechiney, which was acquired by Ferroatlántica on 31 May 2005. FerroPem has six plants in France.
Silicon Smelters, Pyt Ltd., another company acquired in May 2005, is located in South Africa and is the owner of a silicon metal plant in Polokwane, in addition to the ferrosilicon plant in Witbank, which was incorporated into the Group in 2008 after being acquired from the iron and steel producer Highveld.
Mangshi Sinice Silicon Industry Company Limited, in China, a company acquired in November 2010 that owns a silicon metal plant in Mangshi.
Cuarzos Industriales, S.A.U. and Rocas, Arcillas y Minerales, S.A. (Ramsa), owners of top-quality quartz mines in Galicia, Cuarzos Industriales de Venezuela, S.A., owners of quartz concessions in Venezuela, an essential raw material for the production of ferroalloys and silicon metal.
TCM Sam/Quarz in South Africa, a company acquired in 2011, through which the two quartz mines that the Group has in Polokwane and Delmas were merged, with Delmas being one of the main quartz mines in South Africa.
Ferroatlántica I+D, S.L.U., a company that manages all the research and development activities for Grupo Ferroatlántica and has profitably developed and sold several patents for certain essential stages in the ferroalloy and silicon metal production process.
Silicio FerroSolar, S.L.U. is a company currently engaged in the industrial testing stage of new technology for the production of solar-grade silicon metal using electric arc furnaces, that is, with electrometallurgy procedures.
- [Editor:Phillip.Feng]
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