​Kemira celebrated the grand opening of one of Europe’s largest production plants for the manufacture of water treatment chemicals on June 2, 2015. The Tarragona plant is located in La Canonja, Catalonia, Spain, and also has a unit for the manufacture of sizing agents used in the pulp and paper industry.

The grand opening ceremony gathered an audience of 250, representing chemical associations, partners, local authorities, customers and the media, as well as Kemira’s and Bayer MaterialScience’s personnel. The program consisted of a plant tour, inauguration of the plant and a celebratory cocktail party. The ceremony was hosted by Jari Rosendal (President and CEO), Lluís Sabaté (General Manager, Kemira Ibérica) and Antti Salminen (President, Segment Municipal & Industrial).

Several prestigious guests attended the event, including Artur Mas, President of the Government of Catalonia and Roc Muñoz, Mayor of La Canonja.

Pictures from the ceremony

The inauguration of the plant (from left to right): Lluis Sabaté, General Manager of Kemira Ibérica, Artur Mas, President of the Government of Catalonia, Roc Muñoz, Mayor of La Canonja and Jari Rosendal, President & CEO of Kemira.

The event organizers and displays 

The plant tour

The Tarragona plant

The Tarragona plant, located at Bayer Material Science’s industrial site, is able to produce the entire range of Kemira’s aluminum and iron-based coagulants that are used for drinking water and wastewater treatment: polyaluminum chloride (PAX), aluminum sulfate (ALS) and ferric chloride (PIX). It also produces some of the most widely used functional chemicals for the paper industry (AKD sizing agents).