Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG

Company Profile

Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG, headquartered in Heilbronn, is a salt-specialized producer with around 1,100 employees in the business areas Salt, Disposal, Logistics and Tourism. Rock salt is extracted at the Heilbronn rock salt mine from salt layers up to 50 meters thick, with its two shafts providing a capacity of nearly five million tonnes per year. At the Berchtesgaden salt mine, brine has been extracted using the wet mining method since 1517. The brine is further processed and refined into evaporated salt at the saline works in Bad Friedrichshall (around 180,000 t/year) and Bad Reichenhall (around 300,000 t/year); there, table salt, curing salt, seasoning and regeneration salts as well as pharmaceutical salts are produced and filled into a wide variety of packaging. In addition, the group operates the Heilbronn underground landfill and backfilling facility through UEV GmbH, and provides inland waterway and transport services through Reederei Schwaben GmbH. Customers come from the food, pharmaceutical, chemical, agricultural and winter maintenance industries.

Site

Heilbronn

Processes

Rock salt extraction (mining, Heilbronn), Wet mining method (brine extraction Berchtesgaden), Evaporated salt production / salt refining (Saline Bad Friedrichshall, capacity approx. 180,000, Evaporated salt production / salt refining (Saline Bad Reichenhall, capacity approx. 300,000 tonnes, Production of salt tablets (Rheinsalz AG), Production of salt licks (AGROSAL GmbH), Waste treatment, waste recovery and disposal (Heilbronn underground landfill, backfilling Bad, Filling of table salts into carton packs, plastic canisters, cardboard winding cans,

Materials

Rock salt, Brine / brine deposits, Evaporated salt, Sodium chloride (pharmaceutical active ingredient), Nitrite curing salt, Sea salt, Flue gas cleaning residues, Contaminated soils

Certificates

DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 / DIN EN ISO 14001:2015 (combined), DIN EN ISO 50001:2018, FSSC 22000 (Version 6) - Saline Bad Friedrichshall, FSSC 22000 (Version 6) - Saline Bad Reichenhall, DIN ISO 45001:2018 / quality seal 'Sicher mit System' (Safe with System), IFS Household and Personal Care Version 3 - Saline Bad Friedrichshall, IFS Food Version 8 - Saline Bad Reichenhall, GMP certificate (pharmaceutical, sodium chloride as active ingredient) - Saline, QS scheme for the feed industry (GMP PDV NL, Ovocom), Heilbronn, Bad, EC Organic Regulation (DE-ÖKO-006), ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001, FSSC 22000, IFS HPC, IFS Food, GMP (Pharma), Other (QS/Organic)

Founded

1883

Employees

1100

Industries

Food, Pharmaceuticals, Agriculture and forestry, Chemicals, Industry, Retail

1. 01

   Underground rock salt extraction (Heilbronn, Berchtesgaden)

2. 02

   Brine extraction by wet mining (Berchtesgaden) or natural spring brine (Bad

3. 03

   Evaporated salt production at the saline works in Bad Friedrichshall and Bad

4. 04

   Refinement into table, curing, pharmaceutical, regeneration and industrial salts

5. 05

   Filling into various packaging or bulk goods

6. 06

   Inland waterway shipping as well as storage and transport services

7. 07

   Disposal: conditioning, recovery and underground storage

Raw Materials and Products

Locations

Heilbronn

DE

Administration, parent company, rock salt mine (largest in Western Europe)

Materials

Rock salt

• Rock salt mine with two shafts

Bad Friedrichshall

DE

Saline, rock salt mine, underground landfill, visitor mine

Materials

Evaporated salt, rock salt

• Saline with approx. 180,000 t/year capacity

Bad Reichenhall

DE

Saline (brine from the Bad Reichenhall basin), Alte Saline (museum)

Materials

Evaporated salt, spring brine, sea salt

• Saline with approx. 300,000 t/year capacity

Berchtesgaden

DE

Salt mine (brine extraction since 1517), visitor mine

Materials

Brine

• Wet mining method

Product Groups

Inside the production

Processes & technical limits

1 Anlagen & Maschinen

Quality and Certificates

Quality management has been consistently developed into an integrated process management based on the EFQM model; all suppliers and production sites are committed to uniform quality standards. Production is certified, among others, to ISO 9001/14001, FSSC 22000, IFS Food, IFS HPC and GMP (pharmaceutical active ingredient).

History

1. 682

   Duke Theodo II of Bavaria grants Bishop Rupertus of Salzburg spring rights in Bad Reichenhall

2. 1517

   Foundation of today's Berchtesgaden salt mine by Prince-Provost Gregor Rainer (Petersberg tunnel)

3. 1816

   Discovery of the rock salt deposit in Jagstfeld by drilling at a depth of 150 m

4. 1817

   Construction of the Berchtesgaden–Reichenhall brine pipeline (29 km) and of the Friedrichshall saline works

5. 1820

   Foundation of the Royal Württemberg Saline Friedrichshall

6. 1834

   Great fire of Reichenhall; rebuilding of the Alte Saline under King Ludwig I.

7. 1883

   Foundation of 'Salzwerk Heilbronn AG' with capital of 3 million marks

8. 1885

   Start of rock salt extraction at the Heilbronn rock salt mine (on St. Barbara's Day)

9. 1886-1887

   Construction of the salt mill, a saline works and the company's own Neckar harbor in Heilbronn

10. 2016

    Ulrich Fluck becomes Spokesman of the Executive Board

11. 2021

    Natascha Groll becomes Member of the Executive Board

12. 2025

    A very successful fiscal year for Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG

13. 1885

    Start of rock salt extraction at the Heilbronn rock salt mine