Pure salt for chemistry: Salins du Midi signs a 15-year contract with the Kem One group

The Salin-de-Giraud site has until now produced salt for snow removal. Midi Libre – E. L.

The Aigues-Mortes site continues its food salt activity, under the La Baleine brand, while the Salin-de-Giraud site will now supply 250,000 tonnes of salt per year to the chemist Kem One.

“Without salt, no chemistry. No plastic chair, no toothpaste, no soda, no fuel for the Ariane rocket”. Hubert François, CEO of Salins du Midi, is more used to praising the table salt produced on the Aigues-Mortes site. The La Baleine brand has just celebrated its 90th anniversary and the group is showing growing results. But this Thursday it was in Salin-de-Giraud that the Salins group celebrated a success. In this small town in the middle of nowhere, between the Rhône and the ponds, attached to the commune of Arles although 25 km from the city, the Gard company highlighted the contract signed with the chemist Kem One, which commits, for at least 15 years, to buying 250,000 tonnes of salt each year for electrolysis.

Hubert François (center), CEO of the Salins group, welcomed the regional prefect Christophe Mirmand and the Mayor of Arles Patrick de Carolis. Midi Libre – E. L.

An extremely pure salt

Kem One needs extremely pure salt, much more than that harvested here and intended for snow removal. “We invested €10 million in a new machine, a “wringer” and the creation of a basin”, explained Hubert François. “This installation contributes to the competitiveness of French chemistry, and to its sustainability.” The salt will be transported by barges, two per week (with a capacity of 3,000 tonnes), traveling 12 km on the Grand Rhône and on canals to reach Fos-sur-Mer to the Kem One facilities.

The Salins group has invested in a “wringer” to purify salt intended for chemistry. Midi Libre – E. L.

A decarbonized electrolysis process

There, heavy investments have also been made: “Our electrolysis system dated from 1976, we have completely revised the process with a view to decarbonization”, details Philippe Engel, project director.“The current process, using diaphragms, is being replaced by a membrane system, which will consume much less electricity and gas. This is the largest industrial decarbonisation project in Fos-sur-Mer, with 50,000 tonnes of CO2 saved. This is why we have received aid from the State, as part of the Recovery Plan, and from EDF, of around 10% of a total amount of €160 million.”

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Hubert François, CEO of the Salins Group with employees of the Salin-de-Giraud site. Midi Libre – E. L.

A salt mine in Vauvert

With salt, Kem One produces hydrogen, chlorine (for PVC manufacturing) and soda. The revival of French chemistry, hoped for a few months ago, is tempered by current difficulties, particularly in the automobile sector. For the moment, the salt needed by the chemical giant (Kem One employs 1,400 people in France and has a turnover of one billion euros) has a dual origin. Kem One also extracts salt from the ground in Vauvert (Gard) where a small team of 15 employees works. This salt mine, operated since the 1970s (and by Kem One since 2012) operates with wells that go down to 3,000 meters deep. The brine is sent to Fos via a pipeline that crosses the Camargue.

Kelly, sixth generation to work at Salins

At Salins de Salin-de-Giraud, where the harvest is, as for table salt, mechanical, there is hope for a revival of employment. 38 people currently work on the site, with an incredible generational relay. “My grandfather, Théodore Mimos arrived in 1891, from Greece, like many people here” says Frédéric Picard, head of general services. “My daughter Kelly, is an apprentice, she represents the sixth generation” .

Kelly is training in the trade of commerce and tourism. The Salins Group has also developed a business of gîtes and rentals on these salty lands with incomparable landscapes. Chemistry, but also diversification to ensure the future.

“For a living Camargue”

Hubert François launched this summer a “Manifesto for a living Camargue”, intended to counter the position (of the State in particular) aimed at letting nature take its course. No effective renaturation according to the CEO of Groupe Salins without human activity “which is indeed the origin of the Camargue landscapes that we know today”.

The petition he initiated gathered 500 signatures and the big boss proposed this Thursday evening in a tent set up in the middle of the salt marshes, a first meeting hosted by the journalist Bernard de La Villardière. Nearly 200 people took part in the discussions, with sometimes blunt remarks.

More constructive, the Bitterrois breeder Robert Margé spoke of the work carried out with the chambers of agriculture to facilitate the installation of farmers through a land company, while the mayor of Arles, Patrick de Carolis, pointed out the need to also rely on scientists “because we have to be realistic about the changing climate”.

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