Kaolin AD of Bulgaria has ramped up its new $15m. silica sand plant in Oleshnya, northern Ukraine, to supply glass markets in eastern Europe.
The PKSP plant is running at its full capacity of 2,000 tpd (730,000 tpa), generating about a fifth of the group’s total silica sand sales and employing 150 people.
Kaolin AD said the facility would supply large producers of flat glass and container glass in Ukraine, south Russia, Belarus and Moldova, including Saint-Gobain, Vetropack, Sisecam and Guardian.
A 12km gas pipeline has been built to supply the plant, which had also been extended to serve the village of Oleshnya.
The group produces over 3m. tpa silica sand across Bulgaria, Ukraine and Serbia along with refined kaolin, chamotte, limestone, dolomite, feldspar and clay.
Talking to IM at last month’s IMA-Europe 2010 Conference in Brussels, Aleksandar Prokopiev, chief executive officer of Kaolin AD, said:...