2022_digital_yumpu_final

SAFIC-ALCAN
that when heated, rubber mixed with
sulphur becomes insensitive to
temperature changes. He developed
“metallisation”, which consists of
plunging rubber into molten sulphur, but
omitted to patent it. Hancock, who was
aware of the result, conducted his own
research and called his process –
which he patented on 21st November
1843 – “vulcanisation”.
Vulcanised rubber exhibits mechanical
and physical properties far superior to
those of raw rubber. The Englishman
Parkes improved the method in 1846 by
using a solution of sulphur chloride in
carbon sulphide. In 1858, the
Americans invented ‘devulcanisation’ to
regenerate used rubber.
The rest – as you all in our industry
know well – is History.
Changing and adapting
through times
From the 20th century onwards, the
company went through major shifts in
management, structure, products and
positioning, exploring materials as
different in nature as elastomers and
palm oil and latex from then distant Asia.
It was around that time, in the late
1920s, that we first built our business
relationship with DuPont, by becoming
their agent in Europe, specifically due to
their interest in accelerators (mineral or
organic substances that accelerate the
reaction between sulphur and gum
during vulcanisation), antioxidants,
pigments etc.
Two World Wars came and went,
shaking manufacturing to its core, testing
our industry and, moreover, our
businesses. Times were, as now, uncertain
Etienne
Crémieu-
Alcan
and the economy was shaky, but through
a series of bold decisions, then
administrators made one last change to
the company’s face. So, in 1938, we
became Safic (Société Anonyme
Française pour l’Importation du
Caoutchouc)-Alcan. The directors were
Maurice Alcan, Etienne Crémieu-Alcan,
André Steinberg-Terquem and Harry Levis.
In the decades after the war, filled
with market turmoil and a swift change in
our business focus, especially through the
oil crisis in the 70s and 80s, and with
trading proving volatile, our CEO at that
time, Alain Alcan, decided to focus on
relaunching the group’s distribution
activities, which were the limited to
France and Spain, and to a lesser extent,
Italy and the United States.
The arrival of my predecessor Martial
Lecat in the late 80s was a game
changer. With the massive task ahead of
him to reposition and broaden our
portfolio, he was also responsible for
building a European distribution network
to underpin this work.
Next move, The World
Focused on relaunching, adhesives
and plastics, particularly in France,
Safic-Alcan, shaken after some difficult
years after latex prices dropped, also
decided to eliminate risky business such
as cocoa, coffee, cashew nuts and
cattle feed.
Once the risks and business assessed,
it was time to take off into foreign
markets. Our strategy? The human and
amicable acquisitions. This approach
has allowed us to ensure, very early on
in the process, that the company in
question is compatible with the rest of the
group. After 30+ successful acquisitions
globally, we are proud of our model.
Most of the time, Safic-Alcan
approaches family businesses that can
relate to the company and its plans.
Many directors like the idea of becoming
“intrapreneurs” within the group after the
merger and acquisition is complete and
choose to carry on their career there,
alongside their employees.
Our UK, Belgium, Nordics, Maghreb,
North American, Eastern Europe and
many other operations, came to life
following the path of integrating local
structures into our existing group, giving
us a sense of belonging and shared
responsibility with local leadership.
A move we are particularly proud of
was made in 2015, when the
management team and our employees
20 www.w2bchemicals.com WHERE TO BUY CHEMICALS Directory 2022-23