TRB Refractories

What TRB Refractories does

TRB Refractories (TRB Réfractaires, founded 1947) is a French manufacturer of high-performance refractory products and a provider of turnkey engineering and on-site services for high-temperature industrial processes, operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of family-owned Groupe CB. The company designs, formulates, and produces monolithic silico-aluminous castables (ECOKAST vibrated, ECOFLOW self-flowing, ECOJET sprayable), precast refractory shapes including the fiber-reinforced ECOFIB range, taphole clays (ECOTAP), ramming mixes (ECORAM), injection products (ECOGROUT), and the CMR-free PUREBLOX 1400 insulating block, across two French production facilities with combined capacity of approximately 40,000 tonnes/year of monolithics and 3,000 tonnes/year of precast shapes. An in-house R&D laboratory operates high-temperature furnaces up to 1,700°C and runs roughly 20,000 analyses and 9,000 development hours per year, while a dedicated design/engineering office conducts approximately 350 custom engineering studies annually.

The company serves iron and steel producers, cement manufacturers, foundries, ferroalloy producers, lime kiln operators, and industrial furnace operators in approximately 35 countries on five continents, generating roughly 80% of revenue from international markets. Customer logos include ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel, Thyssenkrupp, voestalpine, US Steel, SSAB, Aperam, HKM, ISDEMIR, Riva, Rogesa, AngloAmerican, Samancor, Kardemir, Ferroglobe, ERAMET, Metinvest, CEMEX, HeidelbergCement, Buzzi Unicem, Saint-Gobain, Le Creuset, and Staub. Wholly-owned subsidiaries operate in Germany (TRB Feuerfest GmbH, 2012), China (TRB Beijing Trading Co Ltd, 2005), the United States (MT Savage Specialty Refractories, acquired 2025), the United Kingdom, and Ukraine.

TRB generates revenue through four streams: direct sales of manufactured refractory products (hardware), engineering studies and design services, turnkey on-site installation and maintenance services delivered under multi-year contracts with 24/7 specialist availability, and managed monitoring services via the HTIS instrumentation platform deployed on more than 30 blast furnace gullies and 40 industrial installations. GTM is enterprise field-sales led with engineering-embedded client engagement; pricing is bespoke and quote-based. The company maintains ISO 9001 (over 20 years), ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 certifications within an integrated QHSE management system.

Name

TRB Refractories

Legal name

TRB Réfractaires

Website

https://trb-refractaires.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1947

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

TRB Réfractaires, a French manufacturer founded in 1947, designs and produces high-performance refractory products and provides turnkey engineering and installation services for steel, cement, foundry, ferroalloy, and industrial furnace operators in approximately 35 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Nesles

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Refractory Product Sales: Sale of manufactured refractory materials including monolithic castables, precast shapes, tap hole clays, ramming mixes, and injection products. Products are formulated and produced in-house at two French production sites. Mix includes standard product lines and custom formulations per client specification.
2. Engineering and On-Site Services: Turnkey refractory installation services including design, manufacturing, installation, maintenance, and supervision. Provided through multi-year contracts or one-off projects. Services include refractory lining installation, repair, and monitoring, with qualified specialists available 24/7. Covers blast furnaces, steelworks, foundries, lime kilns, and heat treatment furnaces.
3. Engineering Studies: Custom refractory engineering and design studies covering the full project lifecycle: refractory lining design, 3D CAD/CAE modeling, digital simulation (Comsol), thermal studies, energy optimization, and behavior modeling for sensitive applications. Bureau d'études conducts over 350 engineering studies per year.
4. Monitoring and Instrumentation Solutions: Advanced monitoring solutions including instrumented blast furnace gullies, thermal cameras, 3D scanners, ultrasonic acoustic measurement, and data acquisition systems connected to cloud supervision. Provides ongoing performance and safety data for industrial customers.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

TRB Refractories designs, manufactures and installs high-performance refractory products (monolithic castables, precast shapes, taphole clays, ramming mixes and injection products) for the steel, cement, foundry, ferroalloy, lime and industrial furnace industries. The offering is delivered as an integrated package combining in-house R&D-formulated refractory materials, an engineering design office (3D CAD/CAE and Comsol simulation) and turnkey on-site installation, maintenance and 24/7 service contracts across approximately 35 countries.

Product overview

TRB Refractories offers a comprehensive portfolio of refractory products and engineering services for high-temperature industries. The product range includes taphole clays (ECOTAP with green tar-free variant), dense castables (ECOKAST vibrated, ECOFLOW self-flowing, ECOJET sprayable), ramming mixes (ECORAM), injection products (ECOGROUT), and precast shapes (ECOFIB with metal fiber reinforcement including TE and SZ variants). The PUREBLOX 1400 insulating blocks represent an innovative CMR-free solution for high-temperature insulation up to 1,400°C. These products are complemented by full-service engineering capabilities including design office services, on-site installation and maintenance, and R&D laboratory support. TRB serves steelmaking, foundries, cement, lime kilns, ferroalloys, and industrial furnace sectors across 35 countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ECOTAP: High-performance Taphole Clay product range for blast furnace taphole sealing, with tar-free 'green' formulations
• ECOFIB
• PUREBLOX 1400
• ECOKAST
• ECOFLOW
• ECOJET
• ECORAM
• ECOGROUT

Products and services

• ECOTAP Taphole Clay High-performance organo-mineral taphole clay for sealing blast furnace tapholes, including tar-free ecological formulations, designed for blast furnace operators needing reliable tap hole management across capacities from 1,000 to 13,000 t/day.
• ECOKAST Dense Vibrated Castable Dense silico-aluminous refractory concrete applied by vibration for blast furnace cast houses and similar demanding high-temperature environments, available in various cement contents and with carbon or silicon carbide options depending on application requirements.
• ECOFLOW Self-Flowing Castable Self-flowing (self-placing) dense silico-aluminous refractory concrete for applications requiring easy placement without mechanical vibration, part of TRB's comprehensive castable range for industrial furnace and steelworks customers.
• ECOJET Sprayable/Shotcrete Castable Sprayable / shotcretable refractory castable designed for guniting processes and on-site repair and maintenance of refractory linings in high-temperature installations.
• ECORAM Ramming Mixes Complete range of ready-to-use ramming mixes formulated from refractory aggregates (quartz, mullite, bauxite, corundum) with ceramic or chemical bonds, supplied for installation by ramming in high-temperature industrial equipment.
• ECOGROUT Injection Products Ready-to-use liquid refractory injection products supplied in buckets for sealing leaks and eliminating hot spots without oxidation risk, with fine granulometry and viscosity adapted to filling micro-cracks and physico-chemically compatible with surrounding refractories.
• ECOFIB Fiber-Reinforced Precast Shapes Precast refractory shapes with very high stainless steel fiber content engineered to withstand extreme thermal, mechanical shock and abrasion; produced at the Nesles plant with annual capacity exceeding 400 tonnes. Includes sub-variants ECOFIB TE and ECOFIB SZ for cement industry applications such as blast furnace runners, kiln components, foundry cupola furnaces and coke oven doors.
• PUREBLOX 1400 Insulating Blocks Innovative CMR-free insulating refractory blocks resistant to temperatures up to 1,400\u00b0C, with standard 310 mm thickness delivering thermal insulation equivalent to CMR-classified ceramic fibers and superior mechanical strength, designed for industrial furnace operators seeking safer high-temperature insulation.
• Engineering and On-Site Services Integrated engineering and service offering including design office studies (Solidworks and AutoCAD 3D modeling, Comsol numerical simulation, thermal studies, energy optimization, behavior modeling), on-site refractory lining installation, multi-year maintenance, 24/7 specialist intervention, and ongoing instrumentation support, delivered in France and internationally.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40+ blast furnaces sealed in 25+ countries with capacities from 1,000 to 13,000 t/day using ECOTAP tap hole clay
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers27 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MT Savage Specialty RefractoriescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Acquisition of MT Savage Specialty Refractories (USA) in 2025, strengthening TRB's presence in North America. MT Savage is a recognized player in refractory solutions for the steel, cement, and high-temperature industries. The acquisition broadens TRB's product portfolio and consolidates its international industrial footprint.
• PA TechnologiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024TRB partnered with PA Technologies, an expert in industrial protection solutions covering anti-wear, anti-corrosion, refractories, civil engineering, and anti-clogging. The partnership enables delivery of turnkey solutions in harsh industrial environments, particularly for cement plants and lime kilns. This strategic alliance strengthens synergies in innovation, sustainability, and operational performance. PA Technologies logo appears alongside TRB on cement and lime kiln solution pages.
• CEMHTI (CNRS Orléans)minorOthersCollaborative research partnership with CEMHTI (Conditions Extrêmes et Matériaux : Haute Température et Irradiation), a specialized laboratory of CNRS Orléans, France. Collaboration on refractory materials research and development.
• CNRS OrléansminorOthersResearch partnership with CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) Orléans, France. Joint research on refractory materials science and high-temperature characterization.
• LMDC Toulouse (Laboratoire Matériaux et Durabilité des Construc­tions)minorOthersCollaborative research partnership with LMDC Toulouse (Laboratoire Matériaux et Durabilité des Construc­tions), France. Focused on refractory materials durability and construction applications.
• Krosaki (Licensing Partner)minorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerKrosaki licensing agreements: Krosaki BOF license (India, 1979) for the gunning process and Krosaki BF license (1981) for refractory concretes. Outbound technology licensing of TRB's proprietary processes.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Morgan Advanced Materials: Morgan Advanced Materials is a broad advanced materials company with a refractories and thermal products division serving high-temperature industrial customers. It overlaps with TRB in specialty high-temperature ceramics and insulation but operates as a much larger diversified materials platform.
• Saint-Gobain (Refractory/High-Temp Solutions): Saint-Gobain is a large global materials group with refractory and high-temperature industrial product lines, and is itself a TRB customer in select applications. It competes broadly with TRB in industrial refractories while operating a much wider materials and building products portfolio.

Emerging players

• INTOCAST AG: INTOCAST is a German specialty refractory producer focused on magnesia-carbon and doloma-based products for steel and non-ferrous metallurgy. It is a comparable European specialty competitor with overlapping customer base in steel and foundry segments.

Direct peers

• RHI Magnesita: RHI Magnesita is the world's largest refractory supplier, offering monolithics, precast shapes, and taphole clay products across steel, cement, and industrial markets globally. It is the most direct competitor to TRB across nearly every product line and customer segment TRB serves.
• Resco Products: Resco Products is a US-headquartered refractory manufacturer producing monolithic products, precast shapes, and specialty refractories for steel, aluminum, and cement industries. It is a comparable mid-sized specialty refractory competitor with overlapping product lines and end markets.
• Puyang Refractories Group: Puyang Refractories is one of China's largest refractory producers, supplying monolithic and shaped products to global steel and cement customers. It is a comparable direct competitor, particularly in commoditized refractory lines where Chinese supply pressures global pricing.
• Krosaki Harima Corporation: Krosaki Harima is a major Japanese refractory manufacturer with a long-standing technology license relationship with TRB (BOF gunning 1979, BF refractory concretes 1981). It directly competes in iron & steel refractories and shares overlapping product technology with TRB.
• Vesuvius plc: Vesuvius is a global refractory and foundry technology company supplying steel and foundry customers with monolithic and shaped refractories, including taphole clay systems. It competes head-to-head with TRB in iron & steel and foundry segments worldwide.
• HarbisonWalker International: HarbisonWalker International is one of the largest North American refractory manufacturers, serving steel, cement, and high-temperature industries with monolithics and precast shapes. It is a key competitor, especially relevant following TRB's acquisition of MT Savage to enter the US market.

Regional players

• Shinagawa Refractories: Shinagawa Refractories is a major Japanese refractory manufacturer serving primarily Asia-Pacific steel and industrial markets with monolithics, bricks, and precast shapes. It is comparable in product range to TRB but operates regionally rather than competing directly in TRB's European and emerging-market strongholds.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trb-refractaires

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TRB Refractories