€37 millionin sales9 productionlines in Germany5 distributioncentersin 4countries30mineral-basedproductsselling in 23countriesMinerals TradingPlant & Warehousein Neuss, Germany.Securing the supplyof high quality industrialminerals.32 S&B Industrial Minerals S.A.
<strong>2010</strong> Minerals Trading Salesby Segment<strong>2010</strong> Minerals Trading Salesby Geographical AreaRefractories 43% Glass 32%Germany 54% France 17%Metallurgy 7%Ceramics 18%Italy 11%Spain 6%Other 7%Benelux 3%Poland 2%During <strong>2010</strong>, the MineralsTrading Division managedto respond successfully tothe market’s recovery by leveragingits preparation in 2009 in the followingtwo areas: supply chainefficiency and marketing capabilityof industrial minerals. Optimizationof our comprehensive resourcenetwork -which includes mines,processing plants and warehousesacross main industrial centers in Europeand Northern China- enabledour OTAVI branded minerals to regaintheir momentum and strengthmuch faster than anticipated.The division’s turnover amounted to€36.8 million, representing an increaseof 43.4% compared to 2009and reflecting strong demand fromall market segments. In addition, revenueand profitability benefitedfrom appropriate pricing based on anew ‘value-to-the-customer’ approach,which guaranteed the assuranceof product supply, as well asthe possibility of developing commonobjectives with our customersbased on their needs for quality.EBITDA more than tripled to €4.5million compared to reported lossesof €1.9 million in 2009. (on a comparablebasis, excluding the non-recurringasset impairment charge of€3.2 million in 2009, the EBITDA increasewas about 250%).The Glass & Ceramics BusinessUnit relied on the spodumene andwollastonite minerals as its springboardto recovery. This strategydrove revenue and profitability topre-crisis levels, supported by therecovery of traditional customersalong with new business developmentefforts mainly in the glass, ceramicsand polymers applications.More specifically, spodumene wasmarketed successfully to the leadingmanufacturers of glass ceramicovens and fiber glass withinEurope. Similarly, with wollastonite,the OTAVI brand managed to furtherenhance its position in all the leadingmetallurgical & ceramics gradesmarkets. Moreover, in the area ofpolymers and construction uses, itmanaged to increase its sales throughnew undertakings both in Europeand Asia. On an operationallevel, we successfully concluded aconsolidation of our wollastonite miningand processing assets underthe local government’s supervisionin the Jilin Province in China. As a resultour OTAVI brand stands readyto develop its full potential and restructureand enhance its mining &processing operations.The Refractory Business Unit, basedon its palette of high–alumina contentsources, such as Brown FusedAlumina, mullite and bauxite, createdthe necessary coherence in its salesand marketing focus for an additionalrecovery. Our persistence in assuringproprietary access to relevant materialsfrom China, and the accelerationof new product development –suchas new mineral-coating techniquesand the Thermocarbon® family ofproducts– were two actions thatopened new fields of operational activityand were positively perceivedby our customers.We anticipate that 2011 will bemore than just a year of stabilizationfor our division. This is notbased only on all the aforementionedefforts. During the period of theeconomic slowdown, from late2008 to mid-<strong>2010</strong>, we focused ourefforts on optimizing our businessin order to adapt to the new environmentand increase our efficiency.During <strong>2010</strong> we realized thebenefits from those efforts and hada strong and profitable recovery.We look forward with optimism andanticipation to sustained momentumin this recovery. In parallel, weremain constantly aware of, andready to capitalize on, any opportunitiesrelated to materials, applicationsand geographic regions,that will enable us to drive additionalvalue from our Division.in € million4037265512008 2009 <strong>2010</strong>Sales EBITDA<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2010</strong>33
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