751-Sabar Institute Of Management, Tajpur - Gujarat Technological ...

Major players in chemical industry in Germany:
BASF
After the chemical giant announced more than a year ago that it would sell its styrenics division,
it finally looks like a deal will be done. The price tag originally deterred bidders, but the decision
to reorganize its styrenics business and add its copolymer operations to the mix looks likely to
bear fruit.
The board of executive directors saw the retirement of Eggert Voscherau, Peter Oakley and
Klaus Peter Lobbe, and the addition of Harald Schwager and Hans-Ulrich Engel in January and
March, respectively.
2 DOW
Dow Chemical has continued its aggressive cost-control plans and raised efforts to respond more
effectively to surging costs. The US-based producer has stolen most of the headlines for major
acquisitions this year, particularly with its announcement in July that it would buy specialty
chemical maker Rohm and Haas, also of the US, for $18.8bn (€13.3bn).
It also soon hopes to finalize a joint venture with Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Co. into
which it intends to place a large proportion of its commodity petrochemical and polymer
businesses.
Apart from these deals, Dow has been among the most vocal regarding the need for hefty price
hikes. Its unprecedented across-the-board price increases came hot on the heels of record-high
crude and oil prices, highlighting the pressures faced throughout the chain.
3 EXXONMOBIL
The US-based energy and chemical major's achievements this year have been many and varied.
In July, Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil said its core focus was on meeting the
challenges posed by energy supply and demand.
As part of efforts to improve the supply of its specialty compounds in the Asia-Pacific region,
the company has entered into an agreement with Singapore-based Resin & Pigment
Technologies (R&P) - a subsidiary of Singapore specialty cement and polymer manufacturer
EnGro - where R&P will make a range of ExxonMobil's products, primarily for automotive
applications.Other projects have seen the completion of a major expansion at its plant in
Baytown, Texas, US, to increase halobutyl capacity, used in the production of tires.
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