The Group in overview

Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG, with its head office in Heilbronn, is the parent company of the SWS Group and employs a total of approximately 1,100 people at all its locations in the salt, waste management, logistics and tourism business segments.

Salt has been extracted from salt deposits up to 50 metres thick for over 125 years in the Salt Mine Heilbronn, the largest in Western Europe. The Salt Mine Berchtesgaden, which belongs to the company, has a long tradition and has been producing salt using the "wet mining process" since 1517.

The raw material is also used for the company's own evaporated salt production in the Saltworks Bad Friedrichshall. This saltworks has a capacity of approximately 180,000 tons per year. A wide range of evaporated salt products are produced in various refinement steps.

The capacity of the Saltworks Bad Reichenhall is two thirds larger at approximately 300,000 tons annually. The brine extracted in Berchtesgaden is refined in this saltworks, which plays a prominent role in Germany. In addition, natural spring brine from the Reichenhall basin is used in the Saltworks Bad Reichenhall to produce the famous Bad Reichenhaller Alpine and seasoning salt.

In addition, Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG also operates tourist facilities around salt and brine with the two salt mines in Bad Friedrichshall and Berchtesgaden and the salt museum in the Old Saltworks in Bad Reichenhall. These popular leisure attractions are interesting, and joint testimonies to mining economic history and great excursions for young and old alike.


SALZWERKE BETEILIGUNGEN GMBH

The Salzwerke Beteiligungen GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG and, as a long-term investor, offers financial support to young, innovative start-ups and a commitment to assist them using the expertise the Salzwerke Group gained from over 130 years of company history. To contacts.


AGROSAL GMBH

The production and distribution of high-quality salt licks for agriculture and forestry is carried out by the subsidiary AGROSAL GmbH, Heilbronn. AGROSAL GmbH is a joint venture between Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG and Schweizer Salinen AG, Pratteln (CH). 


Rheinsalz AG

High-purity salt tablets are produced by Rheinsalz AG, based in Pratteln (CH). Their top quality makes them particularly suitable for the regeneration in water softening systems, for perfect water disinfection by electrolysis and for producing premium brine. Rheinsalz AG is a joint venture between Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG and Schweizer Salinen AG, Pratteln (CH).  


UEV GmbH

In addition to salt extraction, Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG has built up a waste disposal business as a further mainstay using its underground resources. Waste materials are conditioned, recycled and stored in the Heilbronn underground waste management site and as backfill in the Bad Friedrichshall mine. These substances include, among others, flue gas cleaning residues, contaminated soils, construction waste and our own or customers’ salt processing residues. The waste management services are marketed through the wholly-owned subsidiary UEV GmbH, Heilbronn.


Reederei Schwaben GmbH

With its majority shareholding in Reederei Schwaben GmbH, Heilbronn, the group has a comprehensive range of logistics services, which primarily includes inland shipping and warehousing and transport services.