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Cales de Llierca celebrates its 50th birthday!
Now that New Year has come and gone we at CALCINOR have the time and energy to prepare for any new challenges that will come our way, as well as those that were already scheduled for 2019. But we will also have to find time to celebrate the fact that one of our constituent companies, CALES DE LLIERCA S.A., has been extracting natural calcium products for the last 50 years.
Below you can discover its history along with the keys to why after 50 years we can not only celebrate its excellent business development but also its position as leader in the manufacture of highly specialized calcium products.
The story starts with being a local producer of lime
To discover the origins of CALES DE LLIERCA we have to go back to the 1940s when the company “Cales, Yesos y Cementos de Olot S.A”-CYCOSA was founded, its aim to satisfy the pressing demand for construction materials in the province of Girona.
With the passage of time and the arrival of the 1960s, the needs changed and so the companies working in the sector did too, becoming more modern and diversified. CYCOSA then needed to give a boost to its activities and at the same time improve the quality of its lime, and so on 1st January 1969, it participated in the creation of CALES DE LLIERCA S.A. which located its centre of production in Argelaguer (Girona – Spain).
And so a new company was born, one which at the beginning dedicated its efforts exclusively to the production of high-quality lime locally but it would soon widen its horizons from the construction sector to work in others, such as the manufacture of leather and paper.
A bet on a differentiated product: Precipitated Calcium Carbonate
Back in the 1970s the lime market in the Girona region was highly competitive, that is why CALES DE LLIERCA with its desire for constant improvement and search for new innovative business opportunities placed a bet on a new product, one that was differentiated and with very few producers within Spain, Precipitated Calcium Carbonate (PCC).
Starting this type of production required a large amount of resources for research, a task it found difficult to respond to. But a strong will, focused dedication, a lot of effort and a learning curve based on trial and error brought the desired result: the creation of an advanced quality product ready to enter new markets.
In the decades that followed the company bet on new systems of carbonation and drying, something that favoured the development of improved products whose grain sizes were controlled (CALPREC PA) and/or coated (CAPREC PR), all of which provided a chance to enter new manufacturing sectors, such as those of paints, sealants, foodstuffs, automation etc…
Evolución hacia nuevos mercados y productos
The arrival of the XXI century would bring important changes for CALES DE LLIERCA S.A.
On the one hand the company saw its presence on international markets increase – thanks to a clear bet on the quality and diversity of the products made – for example, the agreement reached with the EUROCHO company for the export of its calcinated products to France. In the same way its coated PCC (CALPREC PR) gained international prestige when it was approved by multinational companies.
Its history of progress and expansion would help the company become part of CALCINOR in February 2010, something that would also let it make use of the synergies created after becoming associated with a solid business group.
Half a century of successful progress
In summary, 50 years of work which have clearly shown that a bet on product diversification and raising quality have been crucial in putting CALES DE LLIERCA S.A. in the outstanding position that it finds itself in at the present time as a producer of calcium products.
Hence, the company currently possesses an integrated process that includes the selection and extraction of raw materials (limestone), calcination furnaces and installations for the processing of lime and the manufacture of Precipitated Calcium Carbonate. The final result being a wide range of products that can be applied in several different sectors.
During 2019 we Will be celebrating the excellent trayectoria of CALES DE LLIERCA and working towards a future full of successes for the company.
