Calderys invests in new Innovation Centre in Neuwied, Germany

The Calderys Group has announced a significant investment to build a new innovation center for refractories research and development close to its production facility in Neuwied, Germany.

The new 3000-square-metre laboratory will feature advanced processes and leading-edge equipment, enabling Calderys to develop innovative solutions tailored to operations and customers across its Europe and Middle East (EMEA) region.

Serving all the Group's core markets – including foundry, iron and steel, aluminium, and cement – it will play a crucial role in helping customers navigate their green energy transition challenges.

Construction is expected to be complete by late 2025.

Strategic location

Neuwied is Calderys' largest European production site and has been a recognised centre for innovation since 1955, leveraging Germany's reputation in metallurgy and refractory industries. Locating the Innovation Centre close to the Neuwied facility provides easy access to industrial and scale-up trials, ensuring greater collaboration and support between the Innovation & Technology, Quality Control, and Production teams. It will also benefit from its proximity to other Calderys sites and their distinct processes for producing monolithics, steel casting fluxes and molding solutions. A multicultural team of experts dedicated to advancing research and development has been reinforced over the past month, with potential additional recruitments in the future.

The Neuwied location also offers access to the expertise of local talent pool, partnerships, and collaboration with prestigious academic institutions such as RWTH Aachen, the University of Koblenz, and the University of Liege in Belgium, along with industry resources, such as the European Centre for Refractories (ECREF) and the FGF (Research Association for Refractories).

Advanced equipment

The facility will include modular rooms to accommodate a range of R&D activities, fully connected infrastructure with air, water, dedusting, IT, and ventilation facilities, and a showroom to highlight innovation work and results.

State-of-the-art equipment will include advanced machinery for determining high-temperature properties, mineralogical and chemical composition and imaging for in-house advanced materials characterisation. These investments will further elevate quality control, research capabilities, and efficiency, ensuring that customers continue to receive products of the highest quality and performance.

Calderys' third Innovation Centre

The new EMEA Innovation Centre joins Calderys' global network of R&D facilities, including its centres in the US for the Americas, and in India for the APAC region. The Group is also developing its innovation capabilities in India with more than 2000 square metres of new lab space in the state of Odisha, where Calderys currently builds a major single-site greenfield plant dedicated to refractories and steel casting fluxes. These investments underscore Calderys' unwavering commitment to advancing technological innovation and maintaining a competitive edge in the refractory industry.

Michel Cornelissen, President and CEO of Calderys, says: "We are thrilled to expand our R&D capabilities in the region. The establishment of our Innovation Center is a clear demonstration of Calderys' dedication to innovation and excellence in the refractory industry. We are supporting the growth of our EMEA operations, in particular in Germany where we have 5 production sites, and we are reinforcing our commitment to delivering tailored, cutting-edge solutions to our customers, with a special focus on innovation that supports their green energy transition needs".

Click here for free registration to World Cement

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/03032025/calderys-invests-in-new-innovation-centre-in-neuwied-germany/