New ZnSe ceramic material doped with Te is fabricated by nanopowder technology using cold compaction. It is found that phase composition, Te concentration and grain size of the nanopowders produced by direct deposition from vapor depend on temperature in a deposition zone. The higher the temperature, the greater is the fraction of stable cubic phase, the higher Te content, the greater grain size. It is shown that annealing of the ceramics brings to phase transition from wurtzite to sphalerite and dissolution of Te in ZnSe(Te) solid solution. Experimental data on the nanopowders and ceramic materials show that intensity of photoluminescence increases with increase in Te concentration in ZnSe(Te) cubic phase. •New ZnSe(Te) ceramic material was produced by cold compaction of nanopowders.•The nanopowder technology was used to obtain ceramics of 95% density.•Annealing of the ceramics brings to phase transition from wurtzite to sphalerite.•The Te-doped ZnSe ceramics show high photoluminescence intensity.