Calderys Refractory Solutions completes Indonesian Joint Venture and Japanese Acquisition

Calderys, a world leader in Refractory Solutions and a subsidiary of Imerys, announces its latest international expansions into two key areas of the Asia-Pacific market: Indonesia and Japan. Calderys has signed a Joint Venture (JV) agreement with Indonesian refractory manufacturer PT Indoporlen and has also acquired the Japanese refractory producer Tokai Ceramics Co Ltd.

In the Indonesian market, Calderys has been a partner of PT Indoporlen during over 30 years of service to the cement, tin, nickel, steel, aluminium and fertilizer industries (with Calderys known prior to 2005 as Lafarge Refractories). The JV was signed with Calderys as the majority shareholder and PT Indoporlen’s founding Halim family as the lead Indonesian shareholders. It includes PT Indoporlen, which produces monolithic refractories, together with sister companies PT Indoporlen Sakti (IPS) for installation and PT Bina Surindah Cemerlang (BSC) for trading. The business will continue to be based in Bekasi, near Jakarta.

Mr. Michel Goeury has been appointed the President Director of the PT Calderys Indoporlen JV. He states: “We are very proud and delighted to join the Indoporlen team, and to get a chance to take part directly in the successful adventure of this company with a 37-year leadership track record in Indonesia.”

Calderys CEO Mr. John Maxwell says: “After decades as partners, this JV comes naturally as Calderys and Indoporlen share the same common values of safety, innovation, and providing customer solutions. It is an exciting time to be growing our presence in Indonesia as all the key industries that Calderys serves are growing and the need for world class refractory solutions is clear.”

In the Japanese market, where Calderys has had a sales office for more than thirty years, the acquisition of Tokai Ceramics marks the first time Calderys Japan has had local production in the country. Tokai was previously 100% owned by Covalent Materials, a leading Japanese ceramics group, and the company operates one production facility near Nagoya. This facility produces a complete range of monolithic refractory products including castables, plastics, ramming mix and precasts. Tokai also brings to Calderys Japan an existing customer base in the ferrous and aluminium foundry industries, as well as providing opportunities for expansion into the Electric Arc Furnace mini-mill and Reheating Furnace industry segments.