Altair Chemical operates two production facilities in Italy and a business office and storage facility in Spain for marketing and distribution across the Iberian Peninsula.
A benchmark in sustainable chemistry, Altair Chemical was the first in Europe to remove mercury-based technology at its Tuscan facility, later applying the same model to the turnaround of its Piedmontese site.
Today, the company ranks among the European and global leaders in potassium derivatives, outperforming much larger global competitors as for installed production capacity.
The production facility set new standards in the European market by becoming the first potassium hydroxide (KOH) producer adopting membrane-cell technology, removing mercury from its products.
The new chlor-potash production facility, built from scratch as a Greenfield Project to avoid any risk of mercury contamination from old infrastructures, was the first of its kind in Europe and remains one of the world’s most technologically advanced plants for the production of ultra-high purity inorganic potassium derivatives.
This achievement enabled a 30% reduction in energy consumption and a 40% decrease in water withdrawal from the nearby river. Since then, the company has invested over €50 million in the plant over the past ten years to increase capacity and efficiency, continuously improve quality (such as chlorate contamination control), and expand its product portfolio.
Acquired by Esseco Industrial in 2019 through a government-led crisis resolution process, the site was turned around with a €50 million investment, within the scope of the RE-BORN project. It soon stood out as one of the few chemical plants in Italy that might be considered environmentally sustainable, thanks to its reliance on renewable energy sources.
The Pieve Vergonte industrial site is powered by two hydroelectric plants, including one that was recently rebuilt, meeting around 75% of on-site energy demand. Using the same fully renewable hydroelectric energy, the company also produces green hydrogen, which is used both in product synthesis and as a fuel in a hybrid system with methane for steam generation, thereby reducing CO₂ emissions.
To strengthen its presence in the Iberian market and ensure more efficient distribution of its industrial products, Altair Chimica Iberica was established in 2018. The opening of storage facilities in Barcelona and Seville enabled the company to streamline logistics, shorten delivery times, and respond more promptly to customer needs in the region, thereby enhancing its competitiveness across the Iberian Peninsula.
