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CHEMICALS<br />
The solar salt facility under construction in Onslow,<br />
Western Australia, is expected to start shipping in the<br />
year 2000. Premarketing activities are under way in<br />
Asia Pacific to secure a smooth entrance into the<br />
market.<br />
ENERGY<br />
Sales NLG 280 million (1997: NLG 270 million)<br />
Energy savings realized<br />
In 1998, the Energy Efficiency Program (EEP) brought<br />
substantial savings at a number of production sites.<br />
Large state-of-the-art cogeneration projects scheduled<br />
to come on line in 1999 will result in cost-effective and<br />
more efficient use of energy as well as significantly<br />
lower emissions.<br />
In Delfzijl, the Netherlands, the major cogeneration<br />
expansion project at the 50-percent joint venture<br />
Delesto B.V. is nearing completion. Preliminary trial<br />
runs were successful. In Mariager, Denmark, a new<br />
”clean” gas boiler replacing a coal boiler came on<br />
stream in early 1999.<br />
Purchase contract conditions improved, as the<br />
European authorities adopted a new electricity and gas<br />
directive that opens the door to competition in the<br />
energy sector.<br />
The business unit turned in an improved performance<br />
in 1998.<br />
52<br />
OTHER ACTIVITIES<br />
Flexsys<br />
As the global market leader in rubber chemicals, our<br />
50-percent joint venture Flexsys continues to perform<br />
well. However, 1998 was a difficult year, mainly due to<br />
the economic downturn in Asia Pacific, which was<br />
reflected in prices for some key products that were<br />
below economic reinvestment levels.<br />
Recently approved plans to construct a world-scale<br />
Crystex® insoluble sulfur plant in Malaysia demonstrate<br />
Flexsys’ long-term commitment to investment in the<br />
Asian rubber industry.<br />
The new rubber antidegradants plant in Antwerp,<br />
Belgium, has started running on the revolutionary clean<br />
technology that received the 1998 U.S. Presidential<br />
Green Chemistry Challenge Award. The product has<br />
now been approved and is used by customers<br />
worldwide.<br />
Delamine<br />
Earnings from Delamine B.V., our 50-percent European<br />
joint venture for the production of ethylene amines<br />
(EDA and higher amines), were well up in 1998, despite<br />
lower sales volumes in Asia Pacific. Lower priced raw<br />
materials for ethylene dichloride (EDC) and the impact<br />
of cost reduction programs contributed to this positive<br />
development.
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