Specialty Minerals to Build, Operate Satellite PCC Plant at Mill in Bangladesh

Bashundhara Paper Mills Ltd., Bangladesh, has contracted with Specialty Minerals Inc., New York, N.Y., USA, a subsidiary of Minerals Technologies Inc., to build and operate a satellite precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) plant at Bashundhara's paper mill in Meghnaghat, Bangladesh. The satellite PCC plant, which will produce about 30,000 metric tpy of PCC and is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2013, will be wholly owned and operated by Specialty Minerals Bangladesh Ltd.

"We are very pleased to enter this agreement with Bashundhara Paper Mills and look forward to a long relationship with this papermaker. Minerals Technologies will help Bashundhara produce higher quality paper at a lower cost," said Joe Muscari, chairman and CEO. "This satellite, which will bring our total in Asia to 13, is another indication of the success of our strategy to grow aggressively in emerging regions."

Bashundhara Paper Mills is part of the Bashundhara Group, which also has enterprises in real estate, cement, steel, bottling, and distribution. In addition to its operation at Meghnaghat, Bashundhara also has paper mills in Anapura, Songargon, and Narayangonj, Bangladesh.

Minerals Technologies constructed its first satellite PCC plant in 1986. Today, the company has 55 satellite plants in operation or under construction around the world. Total sales for the company were $1 billion in 2010.

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