Pharmaceuticals Sector - Solvay

26
Solvay Global Annual Report 2005
The “Minerals”
cluster: soda ash
and derivatives,
barium and
strontium carbonates,
Advanced
Functional Minerals
2005 saw sustained demand
worldwide for Soda Ash and
associated products. This allowed
margins to be restored and
maintained, despite rising energy
and raw materials costs between
2004 and 2005.
For 2006 demand remains
buoyant, even if rising energy costs
remain cause for concern.
The gradual recovery of margins
in Europe failed to prevent the
closing of the Ebensee (Austria)
soda works, the profi tability of
which had steadily worsened in
recent years owing to its small size
and prohibitive logistic costs.
In the USA, almost all contracts
were renegotiated at higher prices,
with an energy surcharge limiting
the negative effects of the sharp
rise in the cost of natural gas.
The project of putting down roots
in China, by creating a joint venture
with Sinopec subsidiary Nanjung
Chemical Industries (NCI) to operate
a soda ash plant together and
market its production, is actively
under way, and may well enter a
decisive phase in 2006.
Specialty soda ash derivatives, in
particular Bicarbonate, continue
to grow. In Europe, BICAR ® is
expanding further with the launch
of a new BICAR ® Plus grade for
domestic use and the ongoing
development of the original
NEUTREC ® fl ue gas cleaning
process, now used by over
150 incenerators in Europe, Japan
and Korea.
This growth has justifi ed building
a new 100 kilotonnes/year sodium
bicarbonate production unit at
Bernburg (Germany), which
became operational at the end
of 2005.
Innovation remains a key word in
each of the Strategic Business
Units’ fi elds of activity.
– The inauguration of a new
generation of ‘giant distillation
columns’ at the Devnya,
Bulgaria, soda ash plant is a
further example of our ongoing
effort to improve competitiveness
in Essentials.
– The launch in the USA of an
enlarged range of SOLVAIR
fl ue-gas cleaning solutions,
based in particular on our sodium
products portfolio, justifi ed the
expansion of our trona production
capacities. (Trona is a natural
mineral consisting of one sodium
carbonate molecule, one sodium
bicarbonate molecule and two
molecules of water).
In Barium and Strontium
Carbonates, 2005 saw the
formation on November 15 of
the joint venture with Chemical
Products Corporation (CPC)
of Georgia (USA). Synergies,
technology cross-fertilization and
priority access to raw materials will,
beginning in 2006, enable the new
entity to better confront the challenges
facing technology-oriented
products: the relocation of special
CRT glass production to Asia
and the competition from fl at LCD
and plasma screens.
Chemicals Sector
A perceptible improvement in the
market for these products for technical
applications has occurred,
thanks to measures taken in 2005,
including the mothballing of the
Onsan unit in Korea. At the same
time the success of the anti-dumping
campaign against Chinese
imports of barium carbonate products
into Europe has restored a
healthy competitive environment.
Parallel with this, work continues
on developing new specialities
linked to liquid crystal displays
(LCDs), plasma (PDP) and organic
light-emitting diodes (OLED).
Elsewhere, specialty grades of barium
sulfate, used mainly in printed
circuit inks, are developing well in
Japan and on other Asian markets.
“ Innovation remains a key word in
each of the Strategic Business Units’
fi elds of activity.”
Our high purity barium grades,
including micronized grades,
are continuing to expand.
This is an area in which, in just
a few years, Solvay has made
a name for itself as a preferred
supplier to the passive electronic
components industry.