Mantec Technical Ceramics has announced a record contract with a major player in the fertiliser industry.
The six-figure deal with Egyptian-base Abu Qir Fertilizers & Chemicals Industries comes just weeks after the Longton-based manufacturer secured its biggest ever order to supply its specialist insulation material – Ultralite – to a European kiln manufacturer.
The new order, which was won after weeks of extensive negotiations, involved the production of thousands of ceramic filter tubes, manufactured to a very high spec and accuracy.
The tubes were shipped out to Abu Qir’s nitrogen fertiliser-producing facility near Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt this week.
Mantec Sales Director Mark Berrisford said: “After extensive negotiations, we secured a single order valued at over £230,000 with Abu Qir Fertilizers & Chemical Industries.
“Our specialised products for this industry – ceramic filter tubes – are being shipped to Abu Qir’s extensive facility near Alexandria in Egypt. The thousands of tubes, which had to be supplied to extremely tight dimensional tolerances, have all been manufactured at our Longton factory here in Stoke-on-Trent.”
Mantec’s proven technical expertise in this field, evidenced by previous orders placed by Abu Qir, was backed up by its ability to fulfil the entire order in a 12-week timeslot.
The Abu Qir facility is both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified, meaning that only suppliers with the strongest credentials could be considered.
“This was very demanding,” adds Mark, “but we were able to demonstrate that we could deliver. I went over to Alexandria with our Managing Director, Andy Clark, earlier in the year to run through all the details.
“Everything has to be right. Abu Qir is the largest producer of nitrogen fertilisers in Egypt, with significant exports and also 50 per cent of its home market.”
Filtration of mixed gases through Mantec’s porous ceramic tubes leaves them free from particulates, which would otherwise be detrimental to the downstream catalyst, an important element in the fertiliser manufacturing process.
This means that efficient production is successfully maintained.
“When people think of technical ceramics, they probably don’t have this type of application in mind,”
“However, the very special characteristics of our family of technical ceramics means that they are used in a wide variety of industries – agrochemical, pharmaceutical, energy, petrochemical, aerospace, water treatment, and food and beverage among them.
“This record order is another feather in the cap for UK manufactured ceramics.”
