Page 26 - TM-Nov-11-new

24 | The Textile Magazine NOVEMBER 2011
the same time, investments in the re-
gion reached over CHF 200 million
in China alone.
Clariant’s acquisition of Süd-
Chemie will add signifcantly to this
growth. Süd-Chemie achieved 31.5
per cent of its sales in Asia and the
Middle East in 2010, estimated at
EUR 385 million. A third of its em-
ployees are located in this region.
Clariant has set an ambitious sales
target of over CHF 10bn ($11.96
billion) by 2015. According to the
company, the combination of re-
search and development, innova-
tion, elimination of geographical
and technological gaps, as well as
the completion of mergers and ac-
quisition, will help the company
achieve its targets.
In 2010, Clariant reported a turno-
ver in excess of CHF 7 billion. The
company is divided into 12 business
units: Additives, Catalysis & En-
ergy, Detergents & Intermediates,
Emulsions, Functional Materials,
Industrial & Consumer Specialties;
Leather Services; Masterbatch-
es, Oil & Mining Services, Paper
Specialties, Pigments and Textile
Chemicals.
Headquartered in Muttenz near
Basel, the group owns over 100
companies worldwide and employs
about 16,200 employees as of De-
cember 31, 2010.
Clariant is a leading manufacturer
of a comprehensive range of textile
chemicals and dyes. With more than
60 per cent of global textile produc-
tion based in the Asia Pacifc region,
it is already generating 43 per cent
of its textile chemical sales in Asia.
Supporting regional
growth
As part of the relocation to the
new headquarters, the senior Textile
Chemicals BU management team is
now based in Singapore to strength-
en customer relationship, focus
on strategic priorities and respond
much better to structural changes
in the global textile industry. While
Asian countries such as China have
emerged as important markets for
textiles, Europe will clearly remain
a key location for Clariant to facili-
tate new innovations in high-value
markets, such as functional fnishing
and technical textiles.
“The reorganization of the Textile
Chemicals BU has enabled us to es-
tablish a stronger presence in stra-
tegically important markets in Asia
and at the same time implement a
new business structure to cater to the
higher service level expectations of
our European and American custom-
ers,” said Thomas Winkler, Head of
Clariant’s Textile Chemicals BU.
“Europe especially remains a signif-
icant market for Clariant and a key
location for innovation in technical
textiles, which will continue to be a
major driver of future growth.”
In 2010 the textile business gen-
erated sales of CHF 821 million.
With more than 60 per cent of glo-
bal textile production based in the
Asia Pacifc region, Clariant already
generates 43 per cent of its textile
chemicals sales in Asia. The com-
pany aims to reach sales of 1 billion
Swiss francs in China and 800 mil-
lion francs in India by 2016-2017,
Mr. Kottmann said.
The relocation of its global ap-
plication development capabilities
to the new Singapore textile chemi-
cals lab facility is another major step
Clariant has taken to further boost its
commitment to develop innovative,
effective solutions for its customers.
The global application technology
facility in Singapore will play an
important role in advancing new ap-
plication technologies for Clariant’s
global range of textile chemical
products. The facility houses the lat-
est laboratory equipment for product
and application development for the
entire textile value chain, particular-
ly in dyeing and printing. The Sin-
gapore lab also serves as the center
Dr. Hariolf Kottmann, CEO, Clariant International
corporate news