• Corporate
• HISTORY OF BERALMAR 4/10: 1990-1996 – NEW HEADQUARTERS

The first PROMATIC installation, supplied in 1993 to the now defunct CERÁMICAS BELLIDO (Teruel, Spain).

Two very important facts clearly play a central role in this period of BERALMAR’s history. On the one hand, in 1988 BERALMAR acquired a plot of 2,235 m2 in “Els Bellot” Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Terrassa, specifically at 304 Avenida del Vallés, where it built its first plant comprising a 1,550 m2 workshop and 450 m2 of offices, and where the company was permanently installed in 1990. This step was made possible after a few years of significant commercial success and the start of its export activity, which in turn required larger premises for the increasing activity and workforce. The “Els Bellots” Industrial Estate offered an unbeatable location: next to the C-16, C-58 and B-30 highways, about 20 minutes from Barcelona and 30 minutes from the port of Barcelona and El Prat International Airport. In a highly industrial environment and with many suppliers close by, it was a commitment to the future with lots of advantages.

On the other hand, in 1993 BERALMAR patented the PROMATIC firing system using solid fuels, namely coal and petroleum coke. This system, unlike previous ones, incorporated a fully pneumatic fuel handling, thereby solving the problems of fuel handling which hitherto characterized solid fuel systems. Orders for this equipment came in quickly and time would prove the great wisdom behind that decision which was key to BERALMAR becoming the leading specialist in solid-fuel firing technologies.

At the end of this period (1996) the company had 21 employees.

• FLOODING IN THE BALKANS

We have all read, seen and heard the news about the heavy rains that caused flooding in the Balkans in mid May, mainly affecting the centre-west of Serbia, the northern half of Bosnia and, to a lesser extent, eastern Croatia, and which have resulted in dozens of deaths and thousands of displaced people who have lost everything, or almost everything.

Given the sensitivity of BERALMAR’s staff towards this region, we here encourage the readers of this Newsletter to do their bit to minimize personal suffering.

Helping is easy and although there are many ways to do so, we provide below some secure channels to ensure proper use of aid:

• NINTH PART OF THE TREATISE ON DRYING AND FIRING

In this ninth installment, you will find chapters 1.10 and 1.11 pertaining to the treatise on drying:

• Chapter 1.10: Types of drying support.
• Chapter 1.11: Types of dryers.

We hope it will be of interest to our readers.

• NEW EMPLOYEE IN THE SALES DEPARTMENT

In early May, Esteve Sapés (44) joined the BERALMAR Sales Department.

Esteve has technical training in addition to extensive sales experience which has led him to serve markets across the continents in different industrial sectors.

Esteve joins us to provide customer service in Latin America and Portugal, markets with which BERALMAR has maintained commercial relationships for over 25 years, in addition to Spain.

We wish him a quick integration to the BERALMAR team!

• CONCLUSIONS FROM THE BATIMATEC FAIR 2014

In early May BERALMAR participated in the BATIMATEC fair in Algiers, the leading trade fair in Algeria’s construction industry.

This year's edition had a large number of visitors, in line with previous years, and there seems no sign of decline or relaxation in the volume of construction that has been taking place in recent years in this North African country.

This was a very intense and productive week for the BERALMAR delegation in terms of the attention our stand received from visitors, and a good platform to continue discussions on several projects.

Visitors to the next edition will certainly once again find the BERALMAR team at their service.

• CONCLUSIONS FROM THE KERAMTEX CONFERENCE 2014

Yuriy Zinyak speaking at the KERAMTEX Conference

As already reported, the Russian ceramic industry conference took place on 28 and 29 May in Rostov-on-Don, on the shores of the Black Sea.

Participation on this occasion was lower than in previous years in terms of the presence of representatives of Russian ceramics, possibly due to the longer and more difficult journey to Rostov compared with previous years when the conference was held in Moscow, a much more accessible destination with flight connections from all over the country.

BERALMAR’s participation in the conference centred around a technical presentation by Yuriy Zinyak, BERALMAR’s representative on technologies for clinker brick format manufacturing. During the presentation he also took the opportunity to inform the audience of BERALMAR`s successful commissioning of a new line in Siberia.

The conference was rounded off with the usual dinner and a group visit to a face brick factory.

BERALMAR will certainly be present next year, with more news about its performance in the Russian market.

• News and Accomplishments
• ANOTHER ORDER FOR A MICROMATIC SYSTEM IN MOROCCO

BERALMAR will supply a new MICROMATIC installation in Morocco, the sixteenth to be supplied to the North African country, in this case for BRIQUETERIE SLAOUI in Salé.

In 2011 BERALMAR carried out a thorough modernization of BRIQUETERIE SLAOUI’s kiln, enlarging the firing zone and the pre-kiln, and installing a new ventilation system, fuel-oil combustion equipment, an automated MICROBER firing control and other equipment. On this occasion BERALMAR supplied a MICROMATIC installation to replace approximately 70% of the current consumption of fuel oil, which has reached exorbitant prices in Morocco, with micronized petroleum coke. Current production of blocks is closer to 600 tonnes per day.

It was a pleasure working with the professionals from BRIQUETERIE SLAOUI in 2011 and it certainly will be again on this occasion. We take this opportunity to thank you for your renewed confidence in us.