Chemicals and Plastics: 2010 results
Excellent 2010 preliminary results were reported by the RadiciGroup Chemicals Business Area, one of the leading European producers of polyamide 6 and 66 (Radipol®) and related intermediates (Radichem®).
With production sites at Novara, Italy – specializing in the manufacture of PA 66 and adipic acid –, Villa d’Ogna and Casnigo, Italy – specializing in the manufacture of PA 6 polymer among other products, and Zeitz, Germany – specializing in the manufacture of adipic acid and cyclohexanol/cyclohexanone –, the Chemicals Business Area is an essential upstream link of RadiciGroup’s vertical integration.
Excellent 2010 preliminary results were reported by the RadiciGroup Chemicals Business Area, one of the leading European producers of polyamide 6 and 66 (Radipol®) and related intermediates (Radichem®). With production sites at Novara, Italy – specializing in the manufacture of PA 66 and adipic acid –, Villa d’Ogna and Casnigo, Italy – specializing in the manufacture of PA 6 polymer among other products, and Zeitz, Germany – specializing in the manufacture of adipic acid and cyclohexanol/cyclohexanone –, the Chemicals Business Area is an essential upstream link of RadiciGroup’s vertical integration.
“2010 was an excellent year for the chemicals sector,” said Luigi Gerolla, managing director of RadiciGroup Chemicals and Plastics Areas. “In Europe, we operated in an overall balanced market in terms of supply and demand. The balance was the result of restructuring in the chemical industry, on the one hand, as some of our competitors exited the market, and an increase in demand, on the other. After a difficult 2008, by the month of May 2009 things began to tick again in our Group and, from that point on, we started to record a rise in both volumes and prices. This trend lasted for all of 2010, and the financial year closed with sales revenues only slightly below EUR 470 million. At our Zeitz plant, which was put into operation in 2001 and is one of the most technologically advanced plants in the world today, we achieved record production of adipic acid. The Novara plant ran at nearly full production capacity, too.”
“The flexibility and efficiency of our production plants, our technological know-how and the quality of our products” stated RadiciGroup Board Vice Chairman and COO Maurizio Radici,“ were all fundamentally important in achieving these results. Perhaps the most significant factor of all was our reputation as a reliable supplier for our customers. Despite the difficult economic situation worldwide during the two-year period 2008-2009, we have been able to stay competitive and give all our customers, particularly the European ones, excellent support by ensuring reliability. Also important for our Group was fact that we were able to guarantee a supply of raw materials through long-term agreements with our suppliers. This benefit is going to be even more important during 2011.”
“We believe that the on-going recovery, although expected to be weak in Europe during 2011, will allow us to maintain the same sales level as in 2010,” Mr. Gerolla added. “Considering our present investment to increase our Italian production capacity by 10%, our PA 66 polymer production volume will certainly rise. Furthermore, we intend to strengthen our research and development activities, which are crucial if we want to develop new products, not only commodity resins, but also specialities. With this objective in mind, last year we started hiring additional professional staff – recent college graduates and senior positions. We have also made sizable investments in safety and the environment. Being a chemicals group, we, more than others, have a duty to improve the efficiency and quality of our production processes, products and services by making use of innovative technologies and systems that are compatible with workplace safety and environmental protection. This is the field where a make-or-break match is going to be played, in order to stay competitive in the domestic, as well as international markets. We will most certainly strengthen our human resources education and training programmes, so as to develop all the necessary in-house competencies and keep them up-to-date. On the whole, our investments will total about EUR 15 million.”
“The year 2011, the International Year of Chemistry,” Maurizio Radici concluded, ”marks the 25th anniversary of our Novara site, and the 10th anniversary of our German site. These are two outstanding achievements, and I want to thank everyone who has made that possible: all those people – employees and collaborators – who have given their support and made a contribution to the development of our Group. These are milestones we should be proud of, especially if one considers how complex and onerous it is to operate today in the chemical industry – especially in Europe, and even more so in Italy. For our Group, chemistry means investing to strengthen our production chain and make the downstream market grow, thus ensuring its future.
The 2010 results were also good for the RadiciGroup Plastics Business Area. “We closed year 2010 with an increase of 78% compared to the prior year,” said Mr. Gerolla, “and our forecast indicates that we are going to approach sales revenue of EUR 300 million in 2011. When problems and tension struck the market, when the imbalance between supply and demand became serious, RadiciGroup Plastics was recognized as one of the major players in the market. We are a reliable leader in Europe, in the automotive sector in particular. We have been a readily available alternative to the large chemical groups, and that in itself has certainly contributed to our strong growth in volumes and consequent market share. All through the years, our objective has always been to support our customers the best way possible, not only by supplying innovative, sustainable, quality products, but also by providing technological assistance to customers in their development projects and ensuring reliable service. Reliability means being there to assist the customer right from the design stage, providing economically advantageous solutions, ensuring on-time delivery and providing excellent before- and after-sales technical support. In short, being perceived as a partner. Our objectives for the futures? To acquire market share, to grow alone or in collaboration with other companies, as we have done in the past, and to continue to invest in plant efficiency, safety and technology. We intend to strengthen our presence in Brazil – a very attractive market for plastics – as well as in China, which is going to become the second most important market for us after Europe. We do not exclude the possibility of starting production in India, a country where we already have a sale unit. Lastly, we are going to focus on and achieve greater integration and synergy with the RadiciGroup Chemicals Area in our new product development work.”
For more info, please read the Press Release.
Excellent 2010 preliminary results were reported by the RadiciGroup Chemicals Business Area, one of the leading European producers of polyamide 6 and 66 (Radipol®) and related intermediates (Radichem®). With production sites at Novara, Italy – specializing in the manufacture of PA 66 and adipic acid –, Villa d’Ogna and Casnigo, Italy – specializing in the manufacture of PA 6 polymer among other products, and Zeitz, Germany – specializing in the manufacture of adipic acid and cyclohexanol/cyclohexanone –, the Chemicals Business Area is an essential upstream link of RadiciGroup’s vertical integration.
“2010 was an excellent year for the chemicals sector,” said Luigi Gerolla, managing director of RadiciGroup Chemicals and Plastics Areas. “In Europe, we operated in an overall balanced market in terms of supply and demand. The balance was the result of restructuring in the chemical industry, on the one hand, as some of our competitors exited the market, and an increase in demand, on the other. After a difficult 2008, by the month of May 2009 things began to tick again in our Group and, from that point on, we started to record a rise in both volumes and prices. This trend lasted for all of 2010, and the financial year closed with sales revenues only slightly below EUR 470 million. At our Zeitz plant, which was put into operation in 2001 and is one of the most technologically advanced plants in the world today, we achieved record production of adipic acid. The Novara plant ran at nearly full production capacity, too.”
“The flexibility and efficiency of our production plants, our technological know-how and the quality of our products” stated RadiciGroup Board Vice Chairman and COO Maurizio Radici,“ were all fundamentally important in achieving these results. Perhaps the most significant factor of all was our reputation as a reliable supplier for our customers. Despite the difficult economic situation worldwide during the two-year period 2008-2009, we have been able to stay competitive and give all our customers, particularly the European ones, excellent support by ensuring reliability. Also important for our Group was fact that we were able to guarantee a supply of raw materials through long-term agreements with our suppliers. This benefit is going to be even more important during 2011.”
“We believe that the on-going recovery, although expected to be weak in Europe during 2011, will allow us to maintain the same sales level as in 2010,” Mr. Gerolla added. “Considering our present investment to increase our Italian production capacity by 10%, our PA 66 polymer production volume will certainly rise. Furthermore, we intend to strengthen our research and development activities, which are crucial if we want to develop new products, not only commodity resins, but also specialities. With this objective in mind, last year we started hiring additional professional staff – recent college graduates and senior positions. We have also made sizable investments in safety and the environment. Being a chemicals group, we, more than others, have a duty to improve the efficiency and quality of our production processes, products and services by making use of innovative technologies and systems that are compatible with workplace safety and environmental protection. This is the field where a make-or-break match is going to be played, in order to stay competitive in the domestic, as well as international markets. We will most certainly strengthen our human resources education and training programmes, so as to develop all the necessary in-house competencies and keep them up-to-date. On the whole, our investments will total about EUR 15 million.”
“The year 2011, the International Year of Chemistry,” Maurizio Radici concluded, ”marks the 25th anniversary of our Novara site, and the 10th anniversary of our German site. These are two outstanding achievements, and I want to thank everyone who has made that possible: all those people – employees and collaborators – who have given their support and made a contribution to the development of our Group. These are milestones we should be proud of, especially if one considers how complex and onerous it is to operate today in the chemical industry – especially in Europe, and even more so in Italy. For our Group, chemistry means investing to strengthen our production chain and make the downstream market grow, thus ensuring its future.
The 2010 results were also good for the RadiciGroup Plastics Business Area. “We closed year 2010 with an increase of 78% compared to the prior year,” said Mr. Gerolla, “and our forecast indicates that we are going to approach sales revenue of EUR 300 million in 2011. When problems and tension struck the market, when the imbalance between supply and demand became serious, RadiciGroup Plastics was recognized as one of the major players in the market. We are a reliable leader in Europe, in the automotive sector in particular. We have been a readily available alternative to the large chemical groups, and that in itself has certainly contributed to our strong growth in volumes and consequent market share. All through the years, our objective has always been to support our customers the best way possible, not only by supplying innovative, sustainable, quality products, but also by providing technological assistance to customers in their development projects and ensuring reliable service. Reliability means being there to assist the customer right from the design stage, providing economically advantageous solutions, ensuring on-time delivery and providing excellent before- and after-sales technical support. In short, being perceived as a partner. Our objectives for the futures? To acquire market share, to grow alone or in collaboration with other companies, as we have done in the past, and to continue to invest in plant efficiency, safety and technology. We intend to strengthen our presence in Brazil – a very attractive market for plastics – as well as in China, which is going to become the second most important market for us after Europe. We do not exclude the possibility of starting production in India, a country where we already have a sale unit. Lastly, we are going to focus on and achieve greater integration and synergy with the RadiciGroup Chemicals Area in our new product development work.”
For more info, please read the Press Release.
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