The new plant will be built over the Zbudza salt deposit and the company says that has mooted the construction to begin in May 2004. The company added that it expects the new plant will boost its annual salt production by 300,000 tons a year. The company presently processes around 100,000 tons a year.
Currently Slovakia exports some 200,000 tonnes of mainly low-quality salt annually, with Ukraine and Austria being the main importers.
The high-quality salt, produced by Solivary, is bought by companies such as Croatian food group Podravka, Swiss food group Nestle and Anglo-Dutch consumer products company Unilever.
Solivary posted a gross profit of crowns 225.2 million for the first nine months of 2003. The company's sales for the period stood at crowns 233.9 million.