MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant said at the Clariant Roundtable event that it is significantly expanding its North American workforce to capture opportunities in catalysis, oil & mining services and biotechnology, said the producer in its press release.
Clarinet is the developer of the sunliquid cellulosic ethanol process. The commercial relevance of the North American region in general was highlighted by Hariolf Kottmann, CEO of Clariant. He stated: "For Clariant North America is an important growth market. The U.S. provides the single biggest revenue contribution."
Currently Clariant delivers sales of around USD 1.0 billion in North America with approximate 1,800 employees, and has been experiencing year-on-year growth of around 4% in the region since 2011. Growth in the company Catalysts business has been even stronger, at 5% per year, while the Oil & Mining Services (OMS) business has shown double digit growth per annum. Based on the strength of these businesses, Clariant sales in the first half of 2015 in North America were up by 5%. Kottmann envisions continued growth in North America, accelerated by investments in this region.
Clariant is therefore investing heavily in North America. Examples are the new Polypropylene Catalyst Plant in Louisville with an investment of around USD100 million and the Houdry Catalysts Expansion with an investment of around USD20 million.
Providing details on Clariant’s Catalysis business, Stefan Heuser, head of BU Catalysts, highlighted the current annual growth rate of this business, which is close to 7%.
Clariant is also investing heavily in catalysts R&D, with a spend of more than 7% of sales. To develop the most efficient solutions, Clariant is leveraging its position as an independent catalyst supplier to collaborate closely with leading process licensors as well as with customers and academic partners.
As MRC informed earlier, Clariant took a step closer to satisfying customer needs in the agri-film production sector in China by hosting a seminar in Jinan, Shandong province of China.
Clariant is a Swiss speciality chemicals company which was formed in 1995 as a spin-off from Sandoz. The company has a turnover of around USD8 billion and is headquartered in Muttenz with a corporate centre in Pratteln, both near Basel, Switzerland. Clariant manufactures a range of specialty chemicals based largely on pigment, surfactant and polymer chemistry.
MRC