Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ASIA CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION LEADERS 2013 Chairman, managing director: Bimal Shah
Products: Amines; matting agents; isocy-
Company Sales ($m)* Company Sales ($m)* anates; polyols; monomers; propylene gly-
1 Brenntag 1,000 29 ECEM European Chemical Marketing 23.5 cols; epoxy resins and hardeners; hydroxyl
2 Behn Meyer 913 30 Norkem Holdings 15.3 ethyl cellulose; additives; surfactants; glycol
ethers; redispersible powders; metallocenes;
3 Helm 896** 31 Multichem Specialities 15
organo clays; carbon black; vinyl resins; fatty
4 Connell Brothers 800 32 Wego Chemical & Mineral 10
acids; carbonyl iron powder; solvents; polyu-
5 ICC Chemical 787 33 LEHVOSS GROUP 9.8 rethane hardeners; personal care ingredients
6 DKSH 649*** 34 Saiper Chemicals 9.7 Services: Repacking; drumming
7 Chemstation Asia 470 35 Connect Chemicals 9.6 Assets: Nine warehouses; six ofces
8 Jebsen & Jessen Group 413 36 Bodo Moller Chemie 9 Trading sales: 20%
9 IMCD Group 411 37 Haeffner 9
10 Redox 362 38 Rahn Group 9
NOVASOL CHEMICALS
109 2013 SALES: $97M
11 Petrochem Middle East 348 39 Unipex 8.3
12 Pon Pure Chemicals 272 40 K&H Chemicals 7.2 Wezembeek-Oppem, Belgium
13 Manuchar 186.9 41 Arpadis 6.9 WWW.NOVASOLCHEMICALS.COM
14 Union Petrochemical 115.2 42 PENPET Petrochemical Trading 6.6 General manager: Thomas Hoesch
15 Omya 112 43 Arkem Kimya Sanayi Ve Ticaret 5 Products: Monomers (acrylates, meth-
16 Vimal Intertrade 100 44 2M Holdings (Banner Chemicals, 4.8 acrylates); specialty monomers; plasticizers;
17 Biesterfeld 73 Surfachem) specialty solvents; process and performance
chemicals; additives; intermediates; dena-
18 Azelis 54 45 NovaSol Chemicals 4.8
turants; oil and gas specialty chemicals
19 Maha Chemicals 50.5 46 Atlantic Chemicals Trading 4
Services: Import/export distribution; stor-
20 Caldic 50 47 Cornelius Group 3 age; packing; blending; vendor-managed
21 Ramcharan 47 48 Solvadis 2.8 inventory; consulting; Reach representa-
22 TER GROUP 46 49 PHT International 2.6 tions; marketing
23 KPL International 45.5 50 Alpha Wax 2.3 Trading sales: 5%
24 McKinn International 36.1 51 ChemSpec 2
25 NEO Chemical 28.1 52 Whyte Chemicals 1.7
CLEARTECH INDUSTRIES
110 2013 SALES: C$103M ($96.9M)
26 Melrob 27.5 53 Harke Group 1.4
27 CellMark Chemicals (formerly 27.2 54 Indukern 1.4 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Alcan International Network) 55 Charkit Chemical 1.3 WWW.CLEARTECH.CA
28 Shamrock Shipping & Trading 23.9 56 Hubbard-Hall 1 President and chief operating officer:
NOTES: *Sales are by region and may differ from the total sales figure in the overall Top 100 listing. This table also excludes Randy M Bracewell
companies that do not break out sales by geography. **Includes chemical production. ***ICIS estimate Products: Acids; alkalis; chlorine; coagu-
lants; oxidisers; phosphates; carbons; related
Andrey Lipovetskiy trucks; 23 tank trailers; 24 box trailers; equipment for application, measurement
Products: Chemicals for extraction and one railcar and monitoring chemical products and
transportation of oil and gas; composite mate- processes
rials; lubricants and fuels; construction and STAUB & CO SILBERMANN Services: Blending; packaging; storage; trans-
building chemicals; plastics; cosmetics; 107 2013 SALES: 73M ($100.6M) loading
paints and coatings; heat transfer uids; Assets: 10 sales ofces and/or warehouse/
resins Gablingen, Germany packaging/manufacturing facilities in seven
Services: Shipping; handling; packing; WWW.STAUB-SILBERMANN.DE major cities across Canada
storage Managing directors: Andreas Frank and
Assets: Dzerzhinsk headquarters building Peter Stockmeier BARCELONESA DE DROGAS Y
Trading sales: 14% Products: Industrial and specialty chemicals; 111 PRODUCTOS QUIMICOS
acids and lyes; solvents; solid chemicals; 2013 SALES: 70M ($96.5M)
TILLEY CHEMICAL cleaning agents; products for food, feed, phar- Barcelona, Spain
106 2013 SALES: $101M maceuticals, cosmetics; water treatment WWW.BARCELONESA.COM
chemicals; thermal transfer agents; ammoni- President and CEO: Enric Collell
Baltimore, Maryland, US um; AdBlue diesel exhaust additive Products: Inorganic bases and acids; inorgan-
WWW.TILLEYCHEM.COM Services: Storage; mixing; blending; lling; ic salts; organic acids and derivatives; sol-
President: John M Tilley packaging; polymerisation vents; amines; glycols; resins (epoxy, polyes-
Products: Food ingredients; pharmaceutical Trading sales: 34% ter); curing agents; bres; peroxides
ingredients; industrial chemicals; house- (inorganic and organic); surfactants; polyure-
hold, industrial and institutional (HI&I) VIMAL INTERTRADE thane systems and polyols; absorbents; lter
chemicals; water treatment chemicals; 108 2013 SALES: $100M systems for air pollutants; food formulations
ethanol; solvents for sh and meat
Services: Packaging; blending Mumbai, India Services: Just-in-time (JIT) service; vendor
Assets: Two facilities/warehouses; 30 WWW.VIMALAGENCIES.NET managed inventory (VMI); tailor-made formu-
lations; blending; packaging; custom labeling; WWW.CHARKIT.COM Assets: Warehouses; tank storage; 11 trucks;
food-grade formulations President: Charles A Hinnant laboratory
Assets: Five warehouses (Seveso II) in Spain Products: Hydrazine hydrate; hydrazine de-
(Barcelona, Valencia, Murcia and Seville) rivatives; benzyl alcohol; benzyl chloride; AUG. HEDINGER
with total storage capacity for 60,000 pallets; electronic chemicals; water and metal treat- 118 2013 SALES: 65.8M ($90.7M)
two tanks farms for organics and inorganics; ment chemicals; pharmaceutical ingredients;
three lling stations for all types of industrial imaging chemicals; aroma, avour and fra- Stuttgart, Germany
packing (organics, inorganics, consumer grance chemicals, nutritional products; res- WWW.HEDINGER.DE
chemicals); one factory for food formulations; ins; boronic acid derivatives, personal care General manager: Johann-Ludwig Raiser
two factories for inorganics and inorganics ingredients, lanolin and derivatives Products: Raw materials for technical indus-
formulations Services: Warehousing/distribution; blend- tries: paints and coatings; lubricants; cleaning
Trading sales: 25-30% ing; packaging; custom/contract manufactur- products; adhesives; construction chemicals;
ing; custom synthesis; product development plus life science chemicals
CALLAHAN CHEMICAL Assets: 24 stock locations Services: Customised additional test methods
112 2013 SALES: $96M and processes; laboratory testing and batch cer-
SKYHAWK CHEMICALS tication; pharmacopoeia standards (EP, USP,
Palmyra, New Jersey, US 115 2013 SALES: $91.6M JP, CP, IP, etc); extended specications; blend-
WWW.CALCHEM.COM ing; labelling; packaging; storage and repackag-
President: Timothy Dooling Houston, Texas, US ing in eight class-100,000 clean rooms
Products: coatings; adhesives; sealants and WWW.SKYHAWKCHEMICALS.COM Assets: Eight warehouses; 16 trucks (5 dedi-
elastomers (CASE); household, industrial and President: Clark Knickerbocker cated tank trucks)
institutional (HI&I) chemicals; pharmaceuti- Products: Caustic soda; caustic potash; sul-
cal ingredients; nutraceutical ingredients; per- phuric acid; anhydrous ammonia; hydrochlo- PROQUIBASA
sonal care ingredients; cosmetic ingredients; ric acid; phosphoric acid; methanol; urea; 119 2013 SALES: 65.6M ($90.4M)
food ingredients; functional uids aliphatic solvents; aromatic solvents; dodecylb-
Services: Bulk liquids packing; custom enzenesulfonic acid; citric acid; glycols; Barcelona, Spain
blending; returnable containers, drums and amines; ketones WWW.PROQUIBASA.COM
totes; customised tote programmes; custom Services: Custom blending; packaging; President: Patricia Monfort;
labelling; remote tank monitoring; vendor hazardous materials storage; installation of CEO: Philippe Guerineau
managed inventory; consignment inventory; single- and multi-point grease systems; Products: Organic and inorganic chemicals;
committed inventory to forecast; less-than- importing specialty and ne chemicals; food and feed
truckload quantities; just-in-time deliveries Assets: Warehouses in Houston, Dallas, ingredients; cosmetic ingredients; detergent
Assets: Two dedicated white rooms for NF, Baton Rouge and Seattle in the US chemicals; water treatment chemicals; organ-
FCC, USP and Kosher packaging; 5,000 sq ft Trading sales: 5% ic and inorganic pigments; commodity poly-
of temperature-controlled (hot and cold) mers; engineering thermoplastics
warehousing; 400,000 sq ft of environmen- ALPHA WAX Services: Technical service; blending; man-
tally controlled warehousing; 90,000 gal of 116 2013 SALES: 66.2M ($91.2M) ufacturing; toll manufacturing; bulk loading
bulk storage; company owned and operated and storage; break bulk packaging; ware-
eet; mixed truck load deliveries; seven Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands housing
warehouses; 12 trucks; tank farm; four re- WWW.ALPHAWAX.COM Assets: Full service and wholly-owned facili-
gional ofces CEO: Dick Haan ties in Barcelona with tank farm (130 tanks)
Products: Parafn wax; scher-tropsch wax; and 7,000 sq metre warehouse; regional hub
SEA-LAND CHEMICAL microcrystalline wax; slack wax; polyethylene in Madrid with tank farm (50 tanks) and 2,000
113 2013 SALES: $94M wax; petroleum jelly; RBD palm stearin; tri- sq metre warehouse
glycerides; alpha olens; base oils; white oils
Westlake, Ohio, US Services: Tank storage; blending; packaging; BODO MOLLER CHEMIE
WWW.SEALANDCHEM.COM logistics; product development 120 2013 SALES: 65.0M ($89.6M)
President: Joseph D Clayton
Products: Biocides; chelating agents; chlorin- MOELLER CHEMIE Offenbach am Main, Germany
ated parafns; corrosion inhibitors; defoam- 117 2013 SALES: 66M ($91M) WWW.BM-CHEMIE.COM
ers; emulsiers; esters; ethoxylated alcohols; Chairman: Frank Haug
fatty acids; fatty alcohols; lubricant and auto- Steinfurt, Germany Products: Adhesives and bonding systems;
motive additive components; polyalphaole- WWW.MOELLERCHEMIE.COM sealants; silicones; resins; casting and potting
ns; primary amino alcohols; sulphonates; President and CEO: Rainer Berghaus resins for electronics; hardeners and curing
surfactants; vegetable oils Products: Benzyl alcohol; methyl ethyl ke- agents; composites; mould-making; additives
Services: Blending; market development; toxime; propylene carbonate; nonylphenol; for coatings, plastics and rubber, lubricants;
packaging; bulk storage; technical expertise triethylamine; alcohols; solvents; plasticizers; additives and agents for textiles; performance
Assets: 10 warehouse locations inorganic and organic acids; alkalis and liquid chemicals
Trading sales: 15% specialities Services: Packaging; lling; testing; modica-
Services: Blending; technical advice; analyt- tions; blending
CHARKIT CHEMICAL ics; product development; tank monitoring; Assets: Headquarters in Germany; afliates
114 2013 SALES: $92M production of customised formulations; in Europe and South Africa; warehouses; lab-
contract lling; single sourcing; support for oratory facilities
Norwalk, Connecticut, US waste disposal Trading sales: 80%
www.omni-chem.com www.omni-chem.com
Croydon, Pennsylvania, US Services: Blending; packaging; storage acids; multifunctional alcohols; metal and
WWW.COYNECHEMICAL.COM Assets: One warehouse; two sales ofces; amine catalysts; epoxy resins; plasticizers, ad-
President: Thomas H Coyne Sr 16 trucks ditives and antioxidants for rubber and PVC;
Products: Chlor-alkali; solvents; phos- halogen, non-halogen and inorganic ame re-
phates; waste/water treatment chemicals; WALSH & ASSOCIATES tardants; solvents; epoxidised soya bean oil;
hydrogen peroxide; metal treatment chemi- 139 2013 SALES: $73.4M chloroethane; p-nonylphenol
cals; surfactants; acids; paint and coating Services: Blending; packaging; logistics;
chemicals; pharmaceutical ingredients; food St Louis, Missouri, US technical support
ingredients; avours and fragrances; person- WWW.WALSH-ASSOC.COM Assets: Six warehouses
al care ingredients; inorganics; industrial President and CEO: Ellen Murphy Trading sales: 50%
compounding Products: Food additives; ink materials;
Services: Contract blending; packaging; rail paints and coatings materials; personal care GREENCHEM INDUSTRIES
terminal services ingredients; plastic additives; agrochemicals; 141 2013 SALES: $69.3M
Assets: Four company-owned facilitites; sealants; surfactants; oil and gas raw materi-
ve contracted storage facilities; 27 trucks; als; green chemistry West Palm Beach, Florida, US
more than 30 trailers and more than 17 tank Services: Manufacturing; blending; contract WWW.GREENCHEMINDUSTRIES.COM
trailers packaging; technical training; IFS certied Chief operating officer/co-founder: John
warehousing Lagae
AGRO QUIMICA MARINGA Assets: Eight warehouse locations Products: Acetates; acrylates; amines; chlo-
138 2013 SALES: $74.3M rinated solvents; glycol ethers; glycols; ke-
NORTEX tones; oxo-alcohols; phthalates; plastics;
Sao Paulo, Brazil 140 2013 SALES: $71.9M plasticizers; resins; solvents; specialty
WWW.AQM.COM.BR chemicals
Sales director: Silvio Mosseri Moscow, Russia Services: Procurement services; import spe-
Products: Glycols; surfactants; solvents; WWW.NORTEX-CHEM.RU cialists; sales and marketing; just-in-time de-
amines; rheology modiers; carbon black; sili- President: Vladimir Yakushin livery; sourcing; wholesale distributor
cones; mineral oil; pigments; thickeners; ad- Products: Synthetic and natural rubber; syn- Assets: 18 public warehouse and storage lo-
ditives; biocides; emulsiers; catalysts thetic latex; isocyanates; polyols; organic cations throughout North America
www.DrumLabelPriinter.co
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USIQUIMICA DO BRASIL ucts for the oil and gas markets WEBB CHEMICAL SERVICE
142 2013 SALES: $68.1M Services; Dry and liquid blending; transload- 145 2013 SALES: $65.6M
ing; packaging; storing; trucking
Sao Paulo, Brazil Assets: Four sites Salt Lake City, Uthah; Muskegon Heights, Michigan, US
WWW.USIQUIMICA.COM.BR Brighton, Colorado; Nampa, Idaho; and Taco- WWW.WEBBCHEMICAL.COM
General director: Osvaldo Gimenez Jr ma, Washington; several transload sites and CEO: Brad Hilleary; President: Pat OToole
Products: Diesel exhaust additive (AdBlue); outside warehouses Products: Organic and inorganic chemicals;
ammonium hydroxide (Aquamonia); Trading sales: 5% liquids and dry goods; commodity and
anhydrous ammonia; hydrouoric acid; caus- specialty chemicals
tic soda; hydrochloric acid; sodium hy- ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS Services: Sourcing; blending; packaging;
pochlorite; nitric acid; sulphuric acid; poly- 144 2013 SALES: $66.8 storage; delivery
acrylamides; chlorine Assets: Five warehouses; 30 bulk tanks; more
Services: Blending; dilution; packaging; logistics Atlanta, Georgia, US than 30 bulk tankers; more than 12 box trucks
Assets: Two warehouses; manufacturing WWW.ESSENTIALINGREDIENTS.COM
plant; four branches President: Kris Maynard CORNELIUS GROUP
Trading sales: 30% Products: Personal care ingredients; pharma- 146 2013 SALES: $65.5M
ceuticals; household, industrial and institu-
BHS MARKETING tional (HI&I) chemicals; textile chemicals; an- Bishops Stortford, UK
143 2013 SALES: $68M imal care products WWW.CORNELIUS.CO.UK
Services: R&D solutions; product develop- Chairman: Neville Prior
Salt Lake City, Utah, US ment; technical support; dedicated customer Products: Monomers; commodity chemicals;
WWW.BHSMARKETING.COM service representatives; blending; repackag- specialty chemicals; food ingredients; personal
President and CEO: Bruce Schechinger ing; logistics solutions; regulatory team; sam- care ingredients; pigments; additives; resins;
Products: Cleaning and sanitation chemicals; ple inventory; multi-language personnel minerals; surfactants; adhesive lms; pharma-
water treatment chemicals; soda ash (bri- Assets: Five distribution centres; pharma- ceutical excipients/capsules; titanium dioxide
quettes); caustic soda; hydrogen chloride ceutical-grade manufacturing and processing (TiO2); preservatives/biocides; natural products
(HCl); bleach; potassium chloride (KCl); prod- equipment; blending and storage tanks Services: Global supply chain management;
laboratory services; logistics; legislative/regu-
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTION LEADERS 2013 latory advice; distillation; chemical reaction/
manufacturing; repacking; R&D/formulation
Company Sales ($m)* Company Sales ($m)*
services; storage; enterprise risk management
1 Petrochem Middle East 593 28 Ricardo Molina 5.5 Assets: Six warehouses; ve laboratories; one
2 Protea Chemicals 508 29 2M Holdings (Banner Chemicals, 5 chemical manufacturing site; eight ofces;
3 ICC Chemical 426 Surfachem) one cleanroom
4 REDA Chemicals 397 30 Comercial Quimica Masso 4 Trading sales: 5%
5 Solvochem Holland 347 31 Haeffner 4
AFCO
6 Orkila 330 32 Quimitecnica.com Comercio e
Industria Quimica
3.9 147 2013 SALES: 47M ($64.8M)
7 Helm 234**
8 Manuchar 210 33 Arkem Kimya Sanayi Ve Ticaret 3 Athens, Greece
9 IMCD Group 152 34 Indukern 3 WWW.AFCO.GR
10 Shamrock Shipping & Trading 71.8 35 TRInternational 2.8 President: Christos Spanos
11 Campi y Jove 62 36 CG Chemikalien 2.1 Products: Polymers low density polyethyl-
12 Jebsen & Jessen Group 62 37 NEO Chemical 2.1 ene (LDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE),
polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl
13 Quimidroga 56.5 38 Atlantic Chemicals Trading 2
chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), cross-
14 Omya 51 39 Wego Chemical & Mineral 2
linked polyethylene (XLPE); aromatics; deter-
15 Biesterfeld 36 40 NovaSol Chemicals 1.6 gent chemicals; solvents; specialty chemicals;
16 Venus Chemicals Group 28.5 41 PHT International 1.5 water-soluble fertilisers mono-ammonium
17 ECEM European Chemical Marketing 23.8 42 ARC Products 1.4 phosphate, mono-potassium phosphate, calci-
18 Bodo Moller Chemie 22 43 Harke Group 1.4 um nitrate, NPKs
19 KALE KIMYA GROUP 22 44 BHS Marketing 1.36 Logistics: packaging; storage
20 Arpadis 20.7 45 LEHVOSS GROUP 1.2 Trading sales: 30%
21 Solvadis 20.6 46 Charkit Chemical 1.1
AIREDALE CHEMICALS
22 Pon Pure Chemicals 19.7 47 Connect Chemicals 1.1 148 2013 SALES: $64.7M
23 K&H Chemicals 16.3 48 Bufa Chemikalien 1
24 BARCELONESA DE DROGAS Y P.Q. 14.5 49 RNM-Produtos Quimicos 0.95 Cross Hills, West Yorkshire, UK
25 SINPRO 12 50 Alpha Wax 0.7 WWW.AIREDALECHEMICAL.COM
26 Norkem Holdings 6 51 Zeus Quimica 0.69 Managing Director: Richard Chadwick
27 PENPET Petrochemical Trading 5.8 52 Will & Co 0.54 Products: Industrial chemicals; surfactants;
phosphates; phosphonates; textile dyestuffs;
NOTES: *Sales are by region and may differ from the total sales figure in the overall Top 100 listing. This table also excludes
companies that do not break out sales by geography. **Figure includes chemical production
textile auxiliary chemicals; water treatment
and wastewater chemicals; detergent chemi-
cals; personal care ingredients; food and bev- QUELARIS INTERNACIONAL industrial chemicals
erage ingredients; agrochemicals, aluminium 152 2013 SALES: $61.6M Assets: Seven public warehouses
chemicals; wood treatment chemicals; per-
acetic acid; phosphoric acid Panama City, Panama KALE KIMYA GROUP
Sevices: Chemical reactions and manufactur- WWW.QUELARIS.COM 156 2013 SALES: $58.7M
ing; blending; toll manufacture; R&D; quality CEO: Paul Vanhauw
control; product development; storage; sam- Products: Polyurethanes isocyanates, poly- Istanbul, Turkey
pling; packaging; national and international ols, additives; rubber SBR, NR, NBR, EPDM, WWW.KALEKIMYA.COM
distribution rubber chemicals; personal care ingredients, CEO: Birgen Kaleagasi Ozemre
Assets: One manufacturing site with multi- coatings, adhesives, packaging chemicals, Products: Sodium lauryl ether sulphate; be-
ple reactors and storage vessels; seven tem- graphic arts materials taine; esterquats; alkylpolyglucosides; co-
perature-controlled warehouses; three labora- Services: Network in 12 countries; storage; camide DEA; amine oxide; polymer opaciers;
tories; multiple ofces; 18 fully-owned trucks transport; packaging rheology modiers; silicones; preservatives;
Assets: Local infrastructure in Colombia, Ec- esters; conditioners; adhesives; swimming
ROWELL CHEMICAL uador, Peru, Venezuela, Costa Rica, El Salva- pool chemicals
149 2013 SALES: $64.5M dor, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Pana- Services: Logistics; storage; blending;
ma, Dominican Republic, Jamaica packaging; concentrate base formulation;
Hinsdale, Illinois, US Trading sales: 20% production; toll manufacturing; laboratory
WWW.ROWELLCHEMICAL.COM service
CEO: Terry Matray; President: Tom Harris ALAC INTERNATIONAL Assets: Four warehouses comprising 22,000
Products: Chemicals 153 2013 SALES: $61.3M sq metres; six trucks; two laboratories; 72 em-
Services: Manufacturing; storage; transload- ployees
ing and compounding (bulk and packaged) New York City, New York, US
Assets: 22 trucks; three warehouses; 27 stor- WWW.ALACINTERNATIONAL.COM ASTRO CHEMICALS
age tanks; rail siding and barge docks Managing director: Lily Frishman 157 2013 SALES: $58.0M
Products: Polyvinyl chloride (PVC); plasticiz-
RNM-PRODUTOS QUIMICOS ers (diisononyl phthalate (DINP), dioctyl tere- Springfield, Massachusetts, US
150 2013 SALES: $63.3M phthalate (DOTP) and tris (2-Ethylhexyl) tri- WWW.ASTROCHEMICALS.COM
mellitate (TOTM); MBS impact modiers, President: Chris Diamond
Famalicao, Portugal azodicarbonamide (AC) blowing agent; tita- Products: Complete line of organic and inor-
WWW.RNM-PQ.PT nium dioxide (TiO2); solution vinyl resin ganic chemicals
General manager: Ricardo Machado Services: Shipping and logistics; import; Assets: 12 trucks; 125,000 sq ft of warehouse
Products: Caustic Soda; hydrogen peroxide; sul- storage space; 65 employees
phuric acid; hydrochloric acid; sodium hy- Assets: Three leased tanks in two locations; Trading sales: 2%
pochlorite; solvents; plastics; glycols; propylene rented warehouses in seven locations
glycol; glycol ethers; surfactants; silicones; metha- TH HILSON
nol; epoxy resins; inorganics; specialty chemicals CHEMISPHERE 158 2013 SALES: $57.1M
Services: Storage of liquid and packed prod- 154 2013 SALES: $60.1M
ucts; blending; standard and tailor-made Wheaton, Illinois, US
packaging; stock control and telemetry; logis- St Louis, Missouri, US WWW.THHILSON.COM
tic operations consulting WWW.CHEMISPHERECORP.COM President and CEO: Lori Hilson-Cioromski
Assets: Logistics complex at Famalicao and President: Matt Schwent Products: Specialty chemical additives and
Valencia across 15,000 square metres with ca- Products: Beverage-grade ethanol; denatured raw materials for the adhesives, coatings,
pacity for 20,000 tonnes of packed products ethanol; solvents; alcohols; aliphatics; aro- construction, consumer care, graphic arts,
and 8,000 cubic metres of liquids in 35 tanks; matics; ketones; glycol ethers lubricants, personal care and plastics
4 tank terminals for liquids with 12,000 cubic Services: Custom blending; packaging; USP industries
metres and packed solids; own eet of 35 packaging; storage; railcar trans-loading Assets: 13 trucks
trucks, 33 tankers, 6 semi-trailers; 56 stainless Assets: 1.3m gal storage; more than 60,000 sq
steel isotainers of 26 cubic metres ft (5,600 sq metres) of warehouse space; bulk CARBONO QUIMICA
Trading sales: 7% tanker eet 159 2013 SALES: $55M
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Products: Solvents; resins; silicones; sur- two laboratories for rubber and liquid President and CEO: Anthony M Ridnell
factants; defoamers; asphaltic coatings; non- dispersions Products: Acids; adhesives and sealants; al-
VOC wood coatings; gas/oil well products; cohols; amines; chlor-alkali; food additives;
waterproong membranes; roof coatings; rust- KPL INTERNATIONAL glycol ethers; inorganics; lubricants; plasticiz-
proong compounds 174 2013 SALES: RS2.888BN ($46.7M) ers; polyglycols; resins; solvents; surfactants;
Services: Bulk storage; repackaging; blend- thickening agents
ing; oil/gas well maintenance and service; New Delhi, India Services: Manufacturing; blending; contract
technical lab work; warehouse rental space WWW.KPLINTL.COM packaging
Assets: Four warehouses (320,000 sq ft), 22 Managing director: Surinder Kumar Kak Trading sales: 20%
trucks; 10 tankers; two gas well service tank- Products: Bulk and commodity chemicals;
ers; 500,000 gal bulk storage; ve blending polymers; paper and allied chemicals; NATIONAL CHEMICAL
tanks specialty chemicals; industrial and specialty 178 2013 SALES: $45.1M
Trading sales: 5% gases; engineering equipment; Darjeeling
teas Dublin, Ireland
T.Z. GROUP Services: Development of markets for new WWW.NCC.IE
171 2013 SALES: $48M products and applications; investment in CEO: Alan Looney
value-added services such as repackaging Products: Full range of chemicals, food ingre-
Mexico City, Mexico facilities for greater market coverage; market dients and performance polymers
WWW.TZGROUPUSA.COM; WWW.TREZA. intelligence, technical and after-sales Services: Supply chain solutions from sup-
COM.MX; WWW.TAUCHEMICALS.COM support; sourcing and exports from India, ply chain risk assessment, sourcing, accredi-
President: Fernando J Zavala China and Middle East countries to interna- tation, regulatory support, logistics and
Products: Caustic soda; soda ash; sulphuric tional markets; procurement; auditing ser- supply
acid; hydrochloric acid; acetic acid; acetic an- vices; repackaging; warehousing; logistics; Assets: ISO13485 clean room; medical com-
hydride; formic acid; sodium silicate; sodium safety, health and environmental audits; fa- pounding plant via joint venture with Innova-
bicarbonate; calcium chloride; sodium chlo- cilitating technical support from group com- tive Polymer Compounds
rite; hydrogen peroxide; sodium hypochlo- panies for quality control, testing and plant
rite; methyl methacrylate; water treatment audits ANDES CHEMICAL
chemicals (HEDP, ATMP, BPTC) Assets: Eight warehouses; one refrigerant gas 179 2013 SALES: $42.9M
Services: Blending; packaging for all sizes repackaging facility
and products; delivery of any quantity in Trading sales: 27.9% Doral, Florida, US
Mexico WWW.ANDESCHEM.COM
Assets: Four warehouses; 35 tank trucks in CHEM ONE CEO: Fernando Espinosa
Mexico; 350,000 cubic metres liquid tank 175 2013 SALES: $45.9M Products: Dispersants; pigments; talc; cal-
storage; blending and packaging stations; two cined clay; additives; zinc oxide; zinc stearate;
overseas ofces Houston, Texas, US coalescent agents; surfactants acrylic resins;
WWW.CHEMONE.COM alkyd resins; cellulosics; solvents; driers;
MY-CHEM President and CEO: Terry Podlogar defoamers
172 2013 SALES: 34.8M ($47.9M) Products: Feed additives; fertilizer ingredi- Services: Storage; consolidation; export
ents; water treatment chemicals; food addi- services
Buchholz, Germany tives; industrial chemicals Assets: One warehouse
WWW.MY-CHEM.DE Services: Just-in-time inventory; pallet quan-
President and owner: Ralf Meinecke tities; truckloads ULTRA CHEM
Products: Phthalic anhydride; maleic anhy- Assets: Headquarters and warehouse in Hou- 180 2013 SALES: $42.5M
dride; isophthalic acid; puried terephthalic ston, Texas, US; independent contract facili-
acid (PTA); mono-pentaerythritol; di-pentae- ties in Laredo, Texas, and Tampa, Florida, US Mexico City, Mexico
rythritol; paraformaldehyde; sodium formate; WWW.ULTRACHEM.COM.MX
fumaric acid; styrene; tall oil products METACHEM President: Jose Antonio Iniestra Zuniga
Services: Storage; packaging 176 2013 SALES: $45.5M Products: Coatings and inks; construction
Assets: Ofces; one warehouse chemicals; food ingredients; plastic additives;
Trading sales: 80% Sao Paulo, Brazil polyurethane (PU); personal and household
WWW.METACHEM.COM.BR care chemicals; lubricants; animal feed; poly-
RAMCHARAN Managing director: Ricardo Rego Freitas mers and adhesives; textiles; industrial
173 2013 SALES: $47M Products: Food additives; base lube oils and chemicals
additives; paint and coating additives; plas- Servcies: Import/export; packaging and
Chennai, India tics additives; leather additives warehousing; logistics; regulatory and risk
WWW.RAMCHARAN.ORG Services: Blending; packaging; storage management; laboratory testing; customer ser-
Managing partner: Divyesh Palicha Assets: Five warehouses vice; technical support; product develop-
Products: Polymers rubber, plastics, inks Trading sales: 5% ment; production of customised formulas;
and coatings; chemicals; process additives; sample generation; distillation; chemical re-
carbon blacks; process oils; peroxides; oleo- TRINTERNATIONAL actions/manufacturing
chemicals 177 2013 SALES: $45.2M Assets: Four warehouses; four laboratories;
Services: Testing; packaging; storage; logis- one manufacturing site; three ofces; two
tics support Seattle, Washington, US clean rooms; 280 tonnes of liquid bulk storage
Asstes: 19 warehouses; 32 leased vehicles; WWW.TRICHEMICALS.COM in 10 carbon steel tanks
SOURCING AND
SUPPLYING
Quality Products Worldwide
Since 1947
Ofces in:
Hamburg, London, Lyon, Mumbai, New York,
Paris, Shanghai, Singapore
www.aceto.com
10 Coremal Comercio e 128.1 31 Campi y Jove 19.3 51 Arkem Kimya Sanayi Ve Ticaret 2
Representacoes Maia 32 CG Chemikalien 18.6 52 Bufa Chemikalien 2
11 Quimisa 123.9 33 Omya 17 53 TransChem 1.75
12 ICC Chemical 109 34 CLARIQUIMICA COMERCIO DE 16.8 54 LEHVOSS GROUP 1.5
13 D'Altomare Qumica 76.6 PRODUTOS QUIMICOS 55 NovaSol Chemicals 1.5
14 IMCD Group 76 35 Additiva Comercio de Produtos 9.3 56 Norkem Holdings 1.2
15 Agro Qumica Maringa 74.3 Quimicos 57 Ricardo Molina 1.2
16 Usiquimica do Brasil 68.1 36 K&H Chemicals 9 58 ChemSpec 1
17 Petrochem Middle East 64.8 37 Haeffner 8.5 59 Royale Pigments and Chemicals 1
18 Biesterfeld 64 38 Wego Chemical & Mineral 7 60 BARCELONESA DE DROGAS Y P.Q. 0.97
19 Quelaris Internacional 61.6 39 Arpadis 6.9 61 BHS Marketing 0.68
20 Carbono Quimica 55 40 Atlantic Chemicals Trading 6 62 R2 Group 0.55
21 Comercial Conte 51.5 41 Charkit Chemical 5.9 63 TRInternational 0.50
22 Metachem 45.5 42 Bodo Moller Chemie 5 64 RNM-Productos Quimicos 0.32
NOTES: *Sales are by region and may differ from the total sales figure in the overall Top 100 listing. This table also excludes companies that do not break out sales by geography. **Includes chemical
production
SAMECA PRODUTOS QUIMICOS Managing directors: Horst Ludwig and Products: Surfactants; emulsiers; silicates;
186 2013 SALES: 27.8M ($38.3M) Jurgen Martin chelating agents; preservatives; rheology
Products: Amines; bromides; dimethylsul- modiers; personal care specialties; home
Oporto, Portugal foxide; methane sulphonic acid; nickel sul- care products; industrial and institutional
WWW.SAMECAPQ.PT phate; nitrilotriacetic acid; oxo acids and alco- specialties
CEO: Eduardo Moura e Sa hols; phosphorous compounds; phosphates; Services: Local storage; formulation assistance
Products: Native starch and derivatives; starch derivatives (for technical use) Trading sales: 10%
food additives including vitamins, sweeten- Services: Packaging (liquid and solids);
ers and process aids; phosphates; coating grinding; storage CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTORS INC
chemicals including resins, pigments, llers, Assets: Six warehouses; more warehousing 190 2013 SALES: $34M
large range of additives and thickeners, ltra- available on customer demand
tion aids (diatomites and other minerals); Trading sales: 10% Buffalo, New York, US
detergents/personal care raw materials in- WWW.CDIBUFFALO.COM
cluding surfactants and colourants; inorgan- INDEPENDENT CHEMICAL President: Mark T Russell
ic chemicals (acids, salts, etc); textile and 188 2013 SALES: $36M Products: Acids; alkalis; food and pharma-
paper chemicals; additives and raw materi- ceutical ingredients; hydrogen peroxide; sol-
als for polyurethane (PU) foam and polyvi- Glendale, New York, US vents; reagents; water treatment chemicals
nyl chloride (PVC); masterbatch formula- WWW.INDEPENDENTCHEMICAL.COM Services: Customised blending; packaging;
tions; rubber President: Jonathan Spielman warehousing; bulk and less-than-truckload
Services: Repackaging/drumming of bulk Products: Cosmetic specialties; nutritionals; (LTL) shipments
chemicals surtactants; alkalies; acids; industrial chemicals Assets: Two warehouses; 10 trucks; eight
Assets: Warehouses in three locations in Por- Services: Blending; packing; warehouse; cus- trailers; eight tankers
tugal (Oporto, Lisbon, Alcanena) with total tom manufacturing Trading sales: 1%
area of 4,500 sq metres; own distribution eet Assets: One warehouse; six trucks; three
(six trucks and two vans); ofces in Oporto tankers VIVION
and Lisbon 191 2013 SALES: $31.9M
VENDICO CHEMICAL
GB-CHEMIE 189 2013 SALES: 25.2M ($34.7M) San Carlos, California, US
187 2013 SALES: 26.7M ($36.8M) WWW.VIVIONINC.COM
Malmo, Sweden President: Michael Poleselli
Messel Germany WWW.VENDICO.SE Products: Acidulants; sweeteners; humec-
WWW.GB-CHEMIE.COM Managing director: Anders Hakansson tants; preservatives; chelants; hydrocolloids;
surfactants; vegetable oils; antifoams; COAST SOUTHWEST 8,000 sq metres of space for dry products; 20
tableting aids; micronutrients; vitamins; 193 2013 SALES: $31.24M tanks with capacity over 2,000 cubic metres;
minerals laboratory certied by ISO 17025
Services: Documentation support; technical Placentia, California, US
and product formulation support WWW.COASTSOUTHWEST.COM GALLADE CHEMICAL
Assets: Five warehouses/ofces (85,000 sq President: Joseph C Cimo 195 2013 SALES: $31M
ft); two trucks Products: Surfactants; silicones; personal
care ingredients Santa Ana, California, US
R.E. CARROLL Services: Liquid blending; liquid bulk stor- WWW.GALLADECHEM.COM
192 2013 SALES: $31.84M age; drumming; transportation; formulating President and CEO: Richard A Gallade
Assets: Six locations; six trucks Products: Inorganics; alcohols; esters; sol-
Trenton, New Jersey, US vents; food additives; glycol ethers; ketones;
WWW.RECARROLL.COM COSMOQUIMICA INDUSTRIA E reagents; chlor-alkali
President: Robert E Carroll III 194 COMERCIO Services: Package and bulk storage (oxidis-
Products: Calcium carbonate; clays; blowing 2013 SALES: $31.21M ers, corrosive, ammable, poisons)
agents; aluminium trihydrate; zinc oxides; Sao Paulo, Brazil Assets: Four warehouses; ve trucks
plasticizers; foaming agents; barium sulphate; WWW.COSMOQUIMICA.COM.BR
petroleum products (aromatic oils; naphthen- President and founder: Jayme Marmelsztejn NEWPORT INDUSTRIES
ic oils); magnesium oxide; stearates; soybean Products: Active pharmaceutical ingredients 196 2013 SALES: 18.3M ($30.3M)
oils; lubricants; ASTM reference oils (APIs); defensive agricultural products; cos-
Services: Repackaging; storage; capacity to metics ingredients; food additives; household London, UK
efciently repackage 6,000-12,000 gal per chemicals; specialties; feed ingredients; WWW.NEWPORT-INDUSTRIES.COM
week at several locations for aromatic, naph- chemical intermediates Managing director: Raj Patel
thenic, parafnic base and process oils Services: Blending; packaging; storage; Products: Soda ash dense; sodium sulphate;
Assets: Corporate ofce and warehousing chemical analysis; technical support; delivery sodium bicarbonate; calcined bauxite; hydro-
(New Jersey); warehouse locations in the US within 24 hours; quality assurance; logistics; carbon resin; rosin and modied rosin prod-
in California, Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee, contract drumming; outsourcing ucts; ne chemicals; chemicals for animal
Texas, Wisconsin Assets: One ofce; two warehouses with feed; copper sulphate
www.omni-chem.com www.omni-chem.com
WORLD
Quimisa combines the power of tradition and dedication to relentlessly pursue the best solutions to
meet and surpass our customers needs, in accordance with our values of sustainability
and responsible care that permeate every business mode we develop.
In 2013, Quimisa had over USD 120 million sales and employed over 250 people in our
headquarters in Santa Catarina and our 3 branches strategically located to serve our customers.
Over the years, customers have come to count on Quimisa to provide them with innovative
and agile solutions in terms of products and services.
Our commitment to customers is supported by technical sales and customer services teams, storage
and transportation facilities aligned with modern and agile logistic patterns.
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TOP 100
CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTORS
Services: Sourcing glycol (PEG); polymers (butyl, polyisobutyl- President: Semyon Melamed
Trading sales: 90% ene, polyisoprene); wood-plastic composite Products: Phosphates; micronutrients; che-
coupling agents lates; detergent chemicals
TRI-ISO Services: Blending; packaging; storage; Services: Blending; packaging; storage; liquid
197 2013 SALES: $29.1M logistics processing
Assets: Warehouse locations in the US: one
Cardiff, California, US in Akron, Ohio; two in Los Angeles, Califor- TAN INTERNATIONAL
WWW.TRI-ISO.COM nia; three in Norfolk, Virginia; four in Atlanta, 201 2013 SALES: $28M
President and CEO: Jason Scott Georgia; ve in Dallas, Texas; six in Topeka,
Products: Paints, coatings and ink raw mate- Kansas Perth, UK
rials; adhesive and sealant ingredients; plas- WWW.TANINTERNATIONAL.COM
tic and composite chemicals; lubricant and VENUS CHEMICALS GROUP Managing director: Chris Irvine
metalworking additives; PU chemicals 199 2013 SALES: $28.5M Products: General chemicals; oileld chemi-
Services: Product marketing and sales cals and custom blends; food chemical prod-
Assets: Multiple public warehouses Cairo, Egypt ucts; solvents; agricultural products; industrial
WWW.VENUSKIM.COM chemicals; water treatment chemicals; ne
CHEMSPEC Managing director: Ahmad Alghoul chemicals and pharmaceutical ingredients
198 2013 SALES: $29M Products: Resins; pigments; solvents; kaolin; Services: Custom and third-party blending;
oils; fatty acids; surfactants storage; packaging sales; turnkey manage-
Uniontown, Ohio, US Services: Trading ment of chemical supply projects
WWW.CHEMSPECLTD.COM Assets: Five warehouses; eight cars Assets: Owned and operated 10-acre site with
President: David Moreland Trading sales: 40% about 10,000 tonnes liquid storage and about
Products: Silanes; plasticizers (including 5,000 tonnes dry/packed storage; owned and
non-phthalates); oxides and borates; wood VALUDOR PRODUCTS operated specialist vehicles including hydro-
our; blowing agents/activators; process aids; 200 2013 SALES: $28.03M chloric acid/methanol and general-purpose
parafn wax and chlorinated parafn wax; liquid tankers; blending plants capable of 1, 5,
rubber accelerators (including nitrosamine- Rancho Santa Fe, California, US 15, 50 and 100 tonne blends; fertilizer blend-
free); antioxidants; co-agents; polyethylene WWW.VALUDOR.COM ing plant with 45,000 tonne/year capacity; two
www.omni-chem.com www.omni-chem.com
www.mcassab.com.br
TOP 100
CHEMICAL DISTRIBUTORS
additional third-party owned but Tan opera- ARC PRODUCTS GULF COAST CHEMICAL
ted satellite sites 204 2013 SALES: $27.2M 207 2013 SALES: $26.9M
UBA
210 2013 SALES: $24.99M
Ontario, Canada
WWW.UBA.CA
Vice president: Denis Manias
Products: Acetic acid; aqua ammonia; caustic
potash; caustic soda; hydrochloric acid; hy-
drogen peroxide; nitric acid; phosphoric acid;
sodium bisulphite; sodium hypochlorite; sul-
phuric acid
Assets: Two tank farms and buildings; own
dedicated eet
COMINDEX
216 2013 SALES: 14.9M ($20.53M)
TRANSCHEM
217 2013 SALES: $20.5M
Brenntag
Carlsbad, California, US
WWW.TRANSCHEMINC.COM
JNS-SMITHCHEM LUMAR President: Jeremy Krome
211 2013 SALES: $24.3M 214 2013 SALES: 16.5M ($22.7M) Products: Pharmaceutical intermediates; acti-
vated wood carbons; oxygenated solvents;
Paterson, New Jersey, US Barcelona, Spain trichloroethylene; monochlorobenzene; iso-
WWW.JNS-SMITHCHEM.COM WWW.LUMARQUIMICA.COM propyl alcohol; methyl acetate; isopropyl
CEO: Darren Jachts President: Lluis Ribera; CEO: Bruno Saillant acetate; n-propyl acetate; n-butanol; n-butyl
Products: Acrylic resins; pigments; mineral Products: Antioxidants; corrosion inhibi- acetate; ethyl acetate and full line of glycol
llers; chemical specialties; thickeners tors; metal deactivators; antiwear and ex- ethers and ether acetates; recycled, reclaimed
Services: Packaging treme pressure additives; fatty acids; fatty and stream products for industrial applications
Trading sales: 10% alcohols; emulsiers; polyalphaolens; poly- Services: Expedited order fulllment; expert
isobutene; esters; polyalkyleneglicols (PAG); level logistics; 24 hour service; import and ex-
BRISCO DO BRASIL INDUSTRIA defoamers; heat transfer uids; water lami- port division; processes committed to Re-
212 QUIMICA E COMERCIO nating adhesives; aluminium foil; acrylic sponsible Distribution
2013 SALES: $24.2M resins; low density polyethylene (LDPE) Assets: 12 public and private warehouse lo-
Sao Paulo, Brazil lm; biaxially oriented polypropylene cations across North America; 13 railcars;
WWW.BRISCO.COM.BR (BOPP) lm three trailers
Commercial manager and owner: Guillermo Services: Blending; packaging; storage; anal- Trading sales: 20%
Castillo ysis; technical training; Reach Only Repre-
Products: Styrene monomer; acrylic esters; sentative RADCHEM PRODUCTS
plasticizers; alcohols; maleic and phthalic an- 218 2013 SALES: $20.4M
hydride; special monomers; thermoplastics GJ CHEMICAL
(EPS, ABS, SAN, SBC, PC) 215 2013 SALES: $22.6M Orland Park, Illinois, US
Services: Imports; liquid and dry blending; WWW.RADCHEMINC.COM
packaging; agency service Somerset, New Jersey, US President: William M Radostits
Assets: One warehouse, ve trucks WWW.GJCHEMICAL.COM Products: Chemicals and solvents including
President: Diana Colonna acetates; alcohols; aliphatic hydrocarbons;
ALCHEM CHEMICAL Products: Acids and anhydrides; alcohols; glycol ethers; process oils; reuse solvents; res-
213 2013 SALES: $22.9M amines; aliphatic solvents; aromatic solvents; ins; K-1 kerosene
chlorinated solvents; cosmetic preservatives; Services: Railcar transport; drumming;
Atlanta, Georgia, US epoxy resins; esters; glycol ethers; glycols; blending
WWW.ALCHEMCHEMICAL.COM heat transfer uids; ketone; monomers;
President and CEO: Bart Whitaker plasticizers BIACHEM
Products: Solvents; caustic soda; caustic pot- Services: Testing; bulk storage; repackaging; 219 2013 SALES: $18.2M
ash; alcohols; phosphates; acids; surfactants; liquid bulk handling; custom blending; puri-
quaternary compounds fying and stabilising London, UK
Services: Blending; packaging Assets: Three locations; 6 trucks; 30 tankers; WWW.BIACHEM.COM
Assets: Five trucks; three tank trailers; four 10 box trucks; full analytical laboratory Managing director: Bob Beaumont
box trailers; warehouse Trading sales: 50% Products: Caustic soda; salt; magnesium
chloride; potassium chloride; sodium percar- Assets: Dilution plants (four); owned depots Products: Paraformaldehyde; hexamethylene
bonate; anionic surfactants; sodium sulphate; (one); tank farm (540,000 litres); delivery tetramine; phthalic anhydride; melamine;
sodium hydrosulphite tanker (full and part bulk); drumming station; maleic anhydride; phenol; pentaerytritol; bis-
Services: Repacking, blending, detergent eet of more than 250 stainless steel interme- phenol A; diesel exhaust uid
formulations diate bulk containers (IBCs); testing facility Services: Logistics; storage; repackaging
Trading sales: 5% (key point) Assets: 60,000 sq ft warehouse; 12 trucks;
ve van trailers; seven container chassis
BROCKLEY GROUP CLARIQUIMICA COMERCIO Trading sales: 10%
220 2013 SALES: 12.5M ($17.2M) 221 DE PRODUTOS QUIMICOS
2013 SALES: $16.81M ROYALE PIGMENTS AND
Dublin, Ireland Sao Paulo, Brazil 223 CHEMICALS
WWW.BROCKLEYGROUP.COM WWW.CLARIQUIMICA.COM 2013 SALES $15.5M
Chairman: Hugh ODonnell; Sales director: CEO: Valne Lucas Vieira Paramus, New Jersey, US
Pat Short; Director nance and business de- Products: Pigments; paper chemicals; dyes ROYALEPIGMENTS-CHEM.COM
velopment: Nicky Holmes for paper and textiles; caustic soda; carbon John Logue CEO; Lindsay Logue President
Products: Chemical intermediates; specialty black; additives; iron oxide; pigment Products: Potassium Fluoride (solid and liq-
chemicals; solvents; hydrocarbons; diesel ex- dispersions uid), potassium uoroborate, potassium uor-
haust uid; coolants and anti-freezes for the Services: Blending; packaging otitanate, uorozirconic acid, uorotitanic
pharmaceutical, healthcare, veterinary, chem- Assets: One truck; one warehouse acid, ammonium biuoride, potassium bif-
ical synthesis, electronic, water treatment and Trading sales: 75% luoride (solid and liquid), potassium nitrite,
automotive industries sodium nitrite, ACS chemicals, iron oxides,
Services: Contract lling/toll manufacturing; INTERATLAS CHEMICAL pearle pigments, uorescent pigments, organ-
procurement services and raw material sourc- 222 2013 SALES: $16.8M ic uorides, organic intermediates
ing; storage and inventory management; re- Services: grinding, solutions, custom synthe-
mote tank level monitoring; direct distribu- St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada sis, supply chain management
tion of bulk chemicals; customised blending WWW.INTERATLASCHEMICAL.COM Assets: Five warehouse locations in the US,
and next day delivery President and CEO: Alex Van Zijl one in Europe
W FRE
eb E
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CHESTECH
229 2013 SALES: 3.9M ($6.5M)
Rugby, UK
WWW.CHESTECH.CO.UK
Managing director: Jonathan Sellars
Products: Chemicals for use in the manufac-
ture of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs);
solar panels; electronic and industrial n-
ished components; semiconductors
Rex Features
Services: Storage; technical support; labora-
tory analysis; R&D/consultancy projects
Assets: Two warehouses
MULTICHEM SPECIALITIES industrial applications; specialty coalescing Trading sales: 100%
224 2013 SALES: $15M agents; specialty wax adsorbents
Services: Registered with the FSSAI Food DAKRAM MATERIALS
Mumbai, India Safety and Standards Authority of India 230 2013 SALES: 2.12M ($3.51M)
WWW.MULTICHEMINDIA.COM (FSSAI) for supply of chemicals to food and
Managing director: Manish Karnani beverage industries, and the US Food and Biggleswade, UK
Products: Sodium dichloroisocyanuric Drug Administration (FDA) for supply of WWW.DAKRAM.COM
(SDIC), 60% granular; trichloroisocyanuric chemicals and intermediates to the Managing director: Kate Mingay
acid (TCCA) 90% granular; sodium percar- pharmaceutical industry; custom blending Products: Animal feed and nutrition trace el-
bonate; sodium perborate monohydrate; eth- and repacking; drumming; market research; ements; agricultural trace elements; catalyst
ylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA); propar- technical support; trend analysis; legal chemicals; electronic ceramic chemicals;
gyl alcohol; oxone; 2,2 dimethoxypropane; compliance water treatment chemicals; glass manufactur-
sodium thiocyanate; gluteraldehyde; glycolic Assets: Two ofces; two warehouses (one ing chemicals and raw materials
acid; 1,2,3-benzotrizole; DL-tartaric acid; owned); blending/formulation unit Services: Re-packaging; blending; solution
lithium carbonate Trading sales: 5% manufacture
Services: Storage
Assets: 10 warehouses; four branch ofces ADDITIVA COMERCIO DE ANGEM SPECIALITIES
227 PRODUTOS QUIMICOS 231 2013 SALES: 1.35M ($1.86M)
BOEHLE CHEMICALS 2013 SALES: $9.3M
225 2013 SALES: $13.6M Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Barcelona, Spain
WWW.ADDITIVA.COM.BR WWW.ANGEM.COM
Sterling Heights, Michigan, US Director: Marcos Antonio Bresolin CEO: Xavier Lascorz Duran
WWW.BOEHLECHEM.COM Products: Specialty chemicals and semi- Products: Metal surface treatment; water
President: Tedd Strobehn commodity chemicals for architectural and treatment chemicals; phosphonates; poly-
Products: Surfactants; resins, epoxy resins, construction coatings; automotive and indus- mers; biocides; corrosion inhibitors; optical
epoxy curing agents; pigments; preservatives; trial coatings; printing inks; detergents and brighteners; green surfactants; phosphorous
coatings additives industrial and institutional cleaning; textile, derivatives
Services: Storage; technical assistance paper and leather formulations; water treat- Services: Blending; formulation; post-sales
Assets: Five warehouses ment; glycols; amines; acrylic monomers; res- support; picking and packaging; storage
Trading sales: Less than 5% ins and dispersions; pigments
Services: Packaging; storage; delivery; tech- CURRENCY CONVERSION RATES AS
SAIPER CHEMICALS nical support OF 31 DEC 2013
226 2013 SALES: RS608M ($9.7M) Assets: Complete logistics services from
third-party company (Kuehne +Nagel) Euro = $1.378
Mumbai, India Trading sales: 10% UK pound = $1.657
WWW.SAIPER.COM Canadian $ = $0.941
Managing director: IBV Raghavan CHEMCEED Swiss Franc = $1.123
Products: Adipates; C4 derivatives; glycol 228 2013 SALES: $8.9M South African Rand = $0.095
ethers (E-series and P-series); oxidised PE Indian Rupee = $0.01618
waxes; propylene glycols; raw materials for Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, US Australian $ = $0.893
construction chemicals; sugarcane waxes, WWW.CHEMCEED.COM Brazilian Real = $0.423
specialty acrylic polymers for homecare and President: Marimel Enderes
D
ners and provide thousands of essential prod- for their achievements. Congrat-
espite the increased scrutiny our in- ucts to their customers while ensuring the ulations to those on the ICIS
dustry has received in the wake of safety and security of our communities. Top 100 listing. We look for-
tragedies in Texas and West Virgin- NACDs Responsible Distribution includes ward to supporting them in the
ia, National Association of Chemi- a set of performance standards that our mem- future as they continue to serve
cal Distributors (NACD) members have con- bers must meet before passing third-party our industry proudly.
tinued to maintain their focus on safety and verications every three years.
security, performing above and beyond under Through these efforts, our membership Our membership continues
NACDs Responsible Distribution program. continues to reduce incidents year over
The chemical distribution community and year, improve safety performance, and gain
to reduce incidents year
our members commitment to increasing in- greater strength in numbers for our efforts over year, improve safety
dustry safety while fostering a productive busi- working with federal and state authorities performance, and gain
ness environment will never waver. These ef- to ensure a workable regulatory climate. In
forts have clearly been effective our members fact, NACD members, on average, have a greater strength in numbers
29 years of happy.
28
Since 1985, Fitz Chem has been an exclusive
distributor for some of the worlds best
specialty chemical suppliers. Were known
for the service and technical support to guide
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A
become the driving force, distributors must helps the industry to operate
s the voice of the European chemi- take advantage of the innate diversity of the safely, environmentally re-
cal distribution industry, the Euro- business, by offering tailored services for sponsibly and with care for
pean Association of Chemical Dis- manufacturers and downstream users alike. future generations.
tributors (Fecc) is ready to assist This requires distributors to build a business Working together is es-
and encourage our members to become the structure that is able to perform while rapidly sential to succeed. At Fecc
driving force in the supply chain. Our priority adapting to a dynamic environment. we believe this is true across
is to return value to members and contribute The protability of individual companies the whole supply chain.
to the growth of a stronger chemical distribu- will depend on an efcient distribution sys-
tion industry. tem that allows them to react rapidly. Distributors must take
Feccs efforts focus on providing services Chemical distributors have been an example
that enable our members to take advantage of of positive adaptation companies increasingly advantage of the innate
growth opportunities. These will arise from invest in partnerships in businesses, develop- diversity of the business, by
the need to reduce complexity of chemical ment of new products and services, research
trading, thus placing distributors in a unique and development, marketing and employee offering tailored services
Advanced Materials Animal Wellness Care Elements Coatings and Building Materials Composites and Fabrication Materials FoodTech Nutraceuticals
orders@ethorn.com 800.442.4676 www.ethorn.com
RUBENS MEDRANO PRESIDENT, ASSOCIQUIM reach $6.6bn in 2013 a 10% rise year on With Associquims mandatory PRODIR Re-
G
year in local currency terms, but only a 2% sponsible Distribution Process in operation,
iven the size of the country, distribu- increase in US dollar terms. with third-party verication, users of chemical
tion is very important in the chemi- There is a currently a mix of smaller local distribution can be certain of high levels of envi-
cal chain, linking chemical produc- players and a handful of international distribu- ronmental and regulatory performance.
ers with industrial consumers. Most tors that have been entering the market recent- Distributors can help source materials from
of the players are small and medium-sized en- ly, such as Brenntag, IMCD and Univar. All abroad, if they are not produced in Brazil such
terprises (SMEs), making distributors doubly al cov-
offer more-or-less national as ne chemicals or when domestic produc-
important for chemical supply. mestic
erage and handle domestic tion is not sufcient to meet local demand.
The number of distributors is not likely to rise ts.
material as well as imports. Strong growth areas in Brazil include cos-
in coming years, but the proportion of chemical utors
These chemical distributors metics and personal care, and food ingredi-
trade going through distributors at about 11% is play an important role. They ents. Consumer purchasing power is growing.
still low compared to around 20% in Europe not only supply chemicalsals but The paints and coatings sector is beneting
and the US. This gives the distribution sector offer technical support and can from the governments drive to stimulate
room to grow. Brazil is the sixth largest chem- ters.
help with regulatory matters. housing construction, again to meet middle
icals producer in the world, with a market class aspirations for better housing.
estimated at $183bn in 2011. However, de- Chemical distributors saw Government-backed infrastructure develop-
mand exceeds production, and in 2013, one- sales in Brazil reach $6.6bn in ments in roads and ports are also stimulating
third of demand was satised by imports. demand and thus chemical distributors are
Chemical distributors saw sales in Brazil
2013 a 10% rise year on year taking opportunities to increase investment.
www.omni-chem.com www.omni-chem.com
T
entitled to an enrollment discounted rate as a ticipants apply these concepts and test their
he Canadian Association of Chemical benet of membership in the association. skills through case studies, forums, assess-
Distributors (CACD) recognises that There are three semesters in the program. ments, and examinations. The chemical indus-
there is a need for a training pro- Semester 1 is a diploma course and is a pre- try understands that in-class participation can
gramme for the chemical industry. requisite for continuing in the course. Stu- be difcult for working professionals. The 3 se-
We have developed the Chemical Supply dents who successfully complete semester mester course is available online and consists of
Chain Management (CSCM) Program to ad- one will be awarded with a diploma in the student guides, videos and multiple e-tools to
dress ve critical issues affecting the industry: Fundamentals of the Chemical Supply Chain allow for an enriched education experience.
(1) Inspire appropriate succession planning; and have an understanding of the following: Following the graduation of
(2) Address loss of corporate memory; (3) Pro- Evolution of regulations in Canada the diploma program, stu-
vide unique education intended for the chem- Importing and exporting into/from Canada dents will have the oppor-
ical supply chain; (4) Encourage professional Federal and provincial government legisla- tunity to enroll in the
development and expertise; (5) Assist organi- tive process Chemical Industry Regula-
sations with minimal regulatory knowledge. Government advocacy, engagement and tory Professional (CIRP) ac-
The CSCM education course is an online or stakeholder participation creditation course.
in-class program designed and targeted to Mandatory acronyms
sales and marketing representatives, opera- Successful completion of Semester 2 and 3 CACD is committed to
tions and regulatory personnel and executives will result in an accreditation as a Chemical deepening your understanding
working for, or with foreign supply chain Industry Regulatory Professional (CIRP).
partners in the chemical industry. CACD is committed to deepening your un- of current issues and concepts
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smaller with less than 250 employees. They third REACH deadline approaching in 2018.
t has long been believed that the Chinese provide over one third of the industrys employ- Many smaller rms have yet to calculate
ideogram meaning crisis contained two ment and generate almost one third of sales. whether the costs of REACH registration will
separate elements: one meaning risk and Many will experience pressure from three make their products uncompetitive and force
a second meaning opportunity. The wide separate directions one is the trend among their withdrawal from the he market. This will
use of the phrase has caused much hufng and producers to reduce the number of their supply have serious implications ns for all
pufng from linguists suggesting that it stretches chain partnerships. Secondly, they may become micals
industries for which chemicals
the meaning of the Chinese characters too far. a target of M&A initiated by larger distributors. represent a key component nt of
Whatever the truth of the matter, risk and op- Finally, and perhaps most importantly, their product, process, or ser-r
portunity is a convenient way of analysing the there is the increasing challenge posed by the vice if the opportunities thus
prospects for the chemical supply chain. industrys developing regulatory framework created are not taken up p by
On the opportunity side, recent surveys of the most visible in Europe with its REACH legisla- rs.
their surviving competitors.
chemical distribution market have underlined tion. Business organisations warned from the
its growth potential. Part of this is due to the re- outset that REACH was complex, bureaucratic,
sumption of economic growth and part from and burdensome for smaller rms with limited
A key characteristic of the
producers outsourcing distribution and benet- resources. The European Commission and the independent chemical supply
ing from the portfolio of added-value services European Chemical Agency (ECHA) are at last chain is that smaller rms are
offered. So, what are the risks? A key character- beginning to recognise the importance of
istic of the independent chemical supply chain smaller chemical rms and the extent of their numerically dominant
M&A a key M
WILL BEACHAM LONDON
growth
Opportunities abound for
attract customers.
The fragmented global chemical distribution
sector needs to consolidate to keep up with cus-
tomer needs, according to the CEO of US-based
Nexeo Solutions, the fourth largest distributor
in the world with $4.53bn in sales in 2013.
The industry needs to
companies with strategic consolidate. In distribution,
we have an important role
and global expansion plans to play in the value chain
to constantly enhance our
value proposition to cus-
tomers with products,
Brenntag
nouncement to fully take over ZhongYung points out that in North America, with the
in 2016 is still in place. growth of its oil and gas business, there are Top 10 distributors like Brenntag are
Parts of the market are quite certain regional add-ons that will strengthen very active in M&A as consolidators
transactional so margins Brenntags network.
can be quite thin in cer- landscape is a target-rich environment with
tain product ranges and FAMILY TARGETS no shortage of willing buyers or sellers. One of
industries. The majority of M&A targets that Brenntag the reasons the company does not pursue
However, he says, its a acquires are family-owned businesses and, large acquisitions is because of supplier
market thats becoming says Holland, in the vast majority of cases it is conicts.
more sophisticated, the only other party involved in the transac- If were supplying a range of products ex-
and therefore re- tion. Very often discussions may have been clusively and we acquire a company which
going on for years. Clearly there are many supplies its competitors range then that is not
We see ourselves as aspects to acquiring a family-owned business. an easy t and there are a lot of dis-synergies.
a consolidator and a Value is one thing but also continuity for Brenntag is very well positioned in terms of
employees, some of whom have been with resources and sites and therefore a major ac-
company which wants the company for quite some time. We tend to quisition which brings lots of sites to the
to grow geographically buy companies weve known for quite some business isnt necessarily the best value for
STEVE HOLLAND time and when the time is right they tend to the company, he added.
CEO, Brenntag come to us. Holland says that the M&A
DISTRIBUTION TRENDS
M&A Holland believes the fundamentals remain con-
stant in terms of the trend for manufacturers to
JEBSEN & JESSEN TREADS CAREFULLY move smaller customers from direct to the dis-
MARC DESCHAMPS, Regional scape for us is not mainly only tribution channel. He also sees a lot of compa-
managing director for a geographical expansion be- nies wanting to deal with distributors on a pan-
Singapore-based distributor and cause we are everywhere. Its regional or global basis to take complexity out
manufacturer Jebsen & Jessen mainly as an opportunity to of the supply chain.
Chemicals says that often, ac- expand on technology, selec- The value proposition is attractive so we ex-
quiring a competitor to increase tive portfolio expansion of ar- pect distribution growth to continue in the
market share or expand can eas where growth happens years ahead.
result in a very high level of strongly and its mainly con- In terms of the macroeconomic environ-
complexity, internal focus, re- nected to population growth. ment, Brenntag saw positive developments in
structuring, synergy identifica- The 650m consumers in Europe, which it reported in its rst-quarter
tion and delivery. Often, market southeast Asia have higher numbers. Its fair to say that Latin America
focus and the touch for custom- available, expanding incomes. and Asia Pacic have had some challenges in
ers and markets gets lost in the The company is also inter- recent quarters for us, he added.
process and many people are Deschamps urges caution ested in pursuing joint ven- Holland says it is too early to pick out any
changing jobs and companies. tures. Selectivity is one of my structural changes to trade ows in chemicals
Relationships break and results Acquiring new technology that key words when its about as a result of the US shale boom. It is creating
often deteriorate. we do not have in our portfolio M&A. You have to really be a renaissance in North America.... There is a
As southeast Asia is its as well as downstream manu- sure what you are doing and lot of steel going into the ground but no pro-
core market, Deschamps says facturing towards consumers you shouldnt be doing too duction yet. Its a bit early in the cycle to say
Jebsen & Jessen is focused and their needs in SEA is our much at the same time be- there are high volumes from North America to
on this region for acquisitions. main focus. cause after the M&A or JV, an other parts of the world. So I wouldnt say
The opportunities are many. He adds: So the M&A land- integration is required. there has been a fundamental shift in the sup-
ply chain as yet.
First
they value the fact that we put their
needs first.
China C
hina is proving a difcult market
for multinational distributors to
enter. With the exception of Brenn-
tag and Univar, which have taken
their rst steps, global groups do not play a
challenge
Multinational distributors have so far failed to
ing market, and the prize access to one of the
worlds largest and fastest-growing chemical mar-
kets is an attractive one. Joint ventures are seen
as one of the most obvious ways to gain entry.
According to Krishnan Narayanan, senior ex-
ecutive advisor at consultancy Strategy& (for-
merly Booz and Company), there is signicant
make big inroads into the China market. For those market growth of up to 7-9%/year in commodi-
ties and specialties for both direct and distribu-
who succeed, however, the prize could be immense tion channels in coastal and inland parts of
China, though distributors have not always cap-
tured these rates in the last three to four years.
Growth should be better for distributors,
given that they have sets of locals customers
emerging as a result of changes to the Chinese
economy, which [has] become much more
driven by domestic demand rather than ex-
ports. Thats leading to companies in end-user
industries becoming much more powerful.
As most of these are medium-sized and
therefore served by distribution channels
one would expect the distribution market to
be growing more quickly, but this has not
been the case over the last three to four years.
Growth rates for distribution have been simi-
lar or even lower than for direct in China.
INLAND SOARS
Narayanan says the inland areas of China
which are still developing compared to places
like Beijing and Shanghai are growing quick-
ly. This is especially true where they have sig-
nicant end industries such as automobiles in
Wuhan. These areas can grow at around dou-
ble the rate of the rest of the country.
Growth rates from solvents to real specialty
chemicals can be anything from 16-18%. So it is
still a great place for distributors. In the small to
medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, growth
rates for commodity chemicals are higher than
for higher margin specialties, which are more
difcult for distributors to shift.
There is a lot of price pressure, which caus-
es margin challenges, especially for those sell-
ing commodities. China is, he says, a very dif-
cult market for global distributors to grow in.
The market is incredibly fragmented with the
top 10 distributors having only 15% of the
whole marketplace compared to around 50%
Rex Features
The largest global distributors such as Univar with a track record in North America and Eu- it expected from its distribution channel in
and Brenntag are trying to do things in China rope can offer its know-how and some of its pro- China. According to Tong Zhang, senior con-
but they havent been that successful at enter- cesses to a local player that might help distin- sultant for Strategy&, one of the primary rea-
ing the market on their own, according to guish it in this highly fragmented market. sons for the lack of growth was a lack of coop-
Narayanan, though there have been some lim- But they are still selling, as a distributor, to a eration between the direct and distributor
ited joint ventures (JVs). set of SMEs which are not after know-how and channels. The direct team had a lot of small
He says it is really important for any Chinese technical solutions. On the ip side if you can customers but without the resources to win
JV partner to agree to allow their global coun- say to a local player that they are not differentiat- new business. Distributors
terpart to grow with them into new territories. ing themselves on the market and that adding had larger customers,
Any expansion the local player does in high solutions provision will allow them to sell val- which required a more
value, high growth inland areas; its not a fait ue-added products; the question then is wheth- sophisticated service
accompli that the global partner will go with er the demand exists yet from the SMEs. they could not offer.
them. They would have to invest more and are Also they had been
sceptical about doing so because theyre not re- M&A ENVIRONMENT using the same distrib-
ally making very much money in China. None of the local distributors have a global utors for 20 years.
prole at all, making it difcult to track M&A.
CHINA JV STRATEGIES Narayanan says that over the last couple of If youre using a partner who
Selling as a distributor in China involves mainly years, he has seen almost no consolidation.
selling to local players as these still dominate the One good reason for this is that theyre not
cant support your business,
market compared to multinationals. So it would making tonnes of cash to go out and buy other you wont grow your revenue
be incredibly difcult for a foreign player to enter players. They are small and have thin mar- TONG ZHANG
the market on their own and be successful. gins; also they cant leverage cash from over- Senior consultant, Strategy&
Partnering is an obvious fall back, as is not seas operations as they are mainly domestic. I
entering at all. But given the prize, its difcult to cant see this changing in the short term.
imagine that one would want to stay away too It is also important to realise that many Chi- If you compare the distribution landscape
long. The scope, governance and details of any nese distributors are part of larger state-con- now to 20 years ago, it has changed complete-
JV need to be carefully thought through. I would trolled chemical producers. ly, with some not growing. If youre using a
advise companies not to sign a JV which is spe- Narayanan says there is no reason why channel partner who cant support your busi-
cic to one region, as you wont benet from the global distributors cannot be successful in a ness, you wont grow your revenue.
organic growth of your ur local market where global manufacturers are pre- Zhang says management systems need to
partner, he says. sent. It is very difcult for a global player be in place to allow growth through, for ex-
It is important to high- without a local team talking to local custom- ample, a pricing strategy. If you have a tough
tners
light to Chinese partners ers to build a business better than the local internal transfer price for your distributor,
the advantage of a rela- players themselves. they will add their margin, and the nal price
tionship with a global A lot of these distributors are still small will be uncompetitive.
bal,
player. If a large, global, and family-owned and therefore the talent in Twenty years ago this was OK because the
proven distributorr distribution here is not signicant. But if you US companies had the technological advan-
can address the talent challenge and go credi- tage. But now pricing is going down and local
But if you can address the bly, especially Chinese to Chinese to your competitors are emerging.
customers, then the prize is enormous. He says you also need incentives for the
talent challenge and go distributor to grow the business. If a producer
credibly, the prize is enormous DISTRIBUTION CASE STUDY wants its distributor to expand into fast-grow-
KRISHNAN NARAYANAN Strategy& did a piece of work for a multina- ing inland China it will need to invest in sup-
Senior executive advisor, Strategy& tional producer that was not seeing the growth ply chain capabilities, especially wide ware-
housing coverage.
JAPAN
CHINA PRICE PRESSURE
SHOSHAS WIN IN CHINA One reason for price pressure in China is in-
SHOSHAS ARE trading compa- non-auto businesses and are successful as a foreign player creased supply. In the past multinational
nies set up in Japan as buying trying to grow by becoming in this market. They are sourc- chemical companies like BASF, DuPont and
agents for raw materials for distributors in China because ing and selling within China. Dow dominated in specialty chemicals. But
the emerging auto industry. In of slow growth in Japan. They Shoshas have been selling now, according to Zhang, we cannot ignore
southeast Asia almost 100% have had a lot of success, to Japanese customers in the local, emerging chemical companies that
of sales to auto manufacturers since they are big and impres- China, so are already well es- are trying to catch up with the multinationals.
go through shoshas there is sive organisations to work for tablished there. And they are Another issue is that producers often steal
almost no direct procurement and have been good at hiring much more familiar with the a distributors customers when they become
at all. They are like distributors local staff. Asian market than, say, a big. In China this happens all the time, and it
except they represent buyers I see these as a threat to German distributor would be. is a difcult dynamic to deal with. Distribu-
rather than sellers, according local distributors. They may well They have also set up some tors struggle because they build a customers
to Strategy&. have the desire to gobble up fully-owned subsidiaries in size, then they lose it.
Narayanan believes that some smaller distributors in China such as Inabata, which According to Narayanan, China is the most
over the last couple of years, China. These shoshas are has a subsidiary called sophisticated market in emerging Asia. In the
shoshas have moved into showing that it is possible to be Inabata Guangzhou. performance polymers market, at least 30% of
sales are premium and specialty products.
Growth and T
GUENTHER EBERHARD DISTRICONSULT
consolidation
The fragmented chemical distribution sector is still
was Going for Growth. At rst
sight, everybody was quite happy with the
current business climate and the outlook for
the rest of the end of this year.
For the long term at least from the high-
level, macroeconomic perspective the
chemical industry and its distribution sub-
undergoing a lot of consolidation. Prospects are sector will have an important role to play in
healthy for those who can match suppliers needs addressing future generations needs for ener-
gy, food, shelter and mobility, just to name a
few, and providing solutions to sustain the
ever growing population.
On a lower level, closer to the marketplace,
the business and alignment. Producers are people and market development effort, but
expecting a high level of efciency and loyal- also in real infrastructure spending, such as
ty from their distribution partners. the set-up of dedicated application develop-
however, questions did crop up. There were Certain capabilities of distributors, such as ment laboratories.
talks about the need for nancing that was complementary products, specialised logistic
sometimes not so easy to obtain; the drive by or CRM and reporting back-up, are no longer FINANCING FOR MID-SIZED PLAYERS
some suppliers to bundle more of their sales differentiators, but merely an entrance ticket Despite a high level of liquidity in the mar-
with fewer channel partners; and another in the competition for distribution rights.. kets, medium-sized and small-sized compa-
round of consolidation that might take place To structure the interaction, these compa- nies do not always nd the bank nancing
in the chemical distribution industry. In Eu- nies often have distinct models such the that they may need to capture signicant
rope, and elsewhere, individual companies Pan-European, Industry Specialist or growth opportunities.
and their managers and owners will have to Country Leader categories suggested by Larger companies can consider issuing
make choices regarding their future strategy Martin Sutcliffe of Dow Chemical on the basis their own bonds and some distributors have
and how they position themselves to capture of number of countries covered and business done so. Others look at mezzanine nancing,
the growth potential. units served . Although he did not give de- particularly when they need to boost their eq-
tailed gures, it was obvious that the sales uity ratios or to obtain the funds for accelerat-
GROWTH TO CONTINUE ABOVE GDP volume allocation was skewed toward the ed growth through acquisitions. And then
The good news is that chemical distribution rst category. there is the cash generated by the ongoing
will continue to grow in Europe. Over the last One may argue that this pertains only to business, which can be ploughed back into a
ve years, growth was around 1.8%/year in large producers of chemicals. However, our companys growth initiatives.
western Europe and around 10%/year in cen- experience from channel management pro- As Peter Overlack, CEO of Germanys
Overlack pointed out, this again requires a CATEGORIES OF DISTRIBUTORS (LARGE SUPPLIER PERSPECTIVE)
long-term view, often beyond the generation
of owners that is currently in control. It may High
also mean than dividend payments are tem-
Geographical presence
owner or shareholder feels comfortable with.
Industry
specialist
IPOS ATTRACT ATTENTION
Several of the larger distribution companies
are owned by private equity funds. These -
nancial investors realise most of the value
creation only upon exit from their invest- Country leader
ment, be it through a trade sale, handing the Low
company on to another nancial buyer or an Low High
Initial Public Offering (IPO). Coverage of suppliers business units
With a listing at EURONEXT in Amster- (often correlates with number of application areas/industry sectors seved)
SOURCE: Dow Chemical, DistriConsult analysis
dam a few days ago, specialty chemicals dis-
tributor IMCD (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
is now the third publicly traded distributor in Companies need to make sure they main- suppliers that keep them going in the busi-
Europe, after Brenntag (Mulheim an der Ruhr, tain the critical mass that is required to have a ness for a while.
Germany) and DKSH Holding. (Zurich, Swit- broad enough presence in the market. Other-
zerland). Only recently Univar (Redmond, wise distributors may be conned to small GROWTH, BUT NOT FOR EVERYONE
Washington, US) announced that the compa- niche markets. The acquisition of other dis- Chemical distributors will need to make
ny has made a preliminary ling with the Se- tributors has always been a key element of the choice in order to address current and future
curities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for growth strategy for medium-sized and large challenges. Participating in industry growth
its planned listing on the NASDAQ. This distributors, that is those with a turnover will necessitate the circumspect management
clearly shows that IPOs are possible, but the above 250m per year. They account for of product portfolios and supplier relation-
respective company has to have a certain size roughly 75% of the transactions recorded by ships, which are key drivers of success.
to make such a listing economically viable. At DistriConsult during 2013 and the rst half of In order to be attractive to principals, this
an offering price of 21/share, IMCD was val- 2014. While only 20% of the deals can be means to be able to project market reach, de-
ued at 1.05bn. On 1 July its price had classied as consolidation in a narrow ned in terms of both, geographic footprint and
reached 23/share, or around 1.15bn. sense, that is the take-over of a competitor application coverage. Buy-side mergers and
This IPO is good news for the chemical dis- with similar activities in the home territory of acquisitions activities continue to be high on
tribution industry as a whole, as it is attracting the buying company, also geographic expan- the agenda of the nancially strong and cash-
even more attention from the nancial world. sion and the access to new industries and ap- rich distribution companies. Owners of small-
Analysts are starting to cover leading compa- plication areas through the takeover of a er companies will need to ask themselves
nies and asset managers/institutional inves- smaller company does result in overall in- whether their company is active in a niche that
tors put the sector on their radar screen for dustry consolidation. is defendable in the medium to long term. Oc-
potential future investments. The share of market served by the medium- casionally this may require them to forgo some
For the large distribution companies this is sized and large distributors is continuously top line growth and streamline their business
also a way to reduce their gearing and to obtain growing, even when some local markets are in order to survive. If this is not the case, and
funds for future growth, particularly when still quite fragmented. Ambitious growth they see more pressure being put on them, they
new shares are sold, as it was the case with initiatives are not without risk and in that may be better off selling out and putting their
Brenntag in March 2010 and IMCD last month. respect it helps to have commercial size and company into the ownership of a larger, more
nancial power. On the other hand, as long as resilient player in the industry.
CONSOLIDATION A CONTINUING THEME there are smaller and medium-sized
Guenther Eberhard is managing director of
Against the backdrop of the prevalent driving producers looking for channel partners to get Switzerland-headquartered specialist
forces outlined above, it is quite clear that size their products sold and delivered to the distribution consultancy, DistriConsult.
matters in chemical distribution. market, distributors will be able to nd the geberhard@districonsult.com
ICCTA to encourage
wider engagement
Leadership of ICCTA crosses the Atlantic to Europe this summer, with Peter Skou taking
on the role of president. ICIS talked to him about his priorities for the association
I
provement.
mproved communication and a wider Skou points out that ICCTA developed a
geographic reach are two priorities for joint programme some years ago that covers
Peter Skou, managing director of Danish the principle of both programmes, including
specialty chemical distributor R2 the eight Guiding Principles, the CEOs com-
Group, as he takes on the role of president of mitment, a self-assessment questionnaire and
the International Council of Chemical Trade indices of performance. And in 2009 the two
Associations (ICCTA). bodies signed an agreement to cooperate
We can make a difference, says Skou, closely on their respective programmes.
who has also been treasurer of Europes chem- However, despite many years of efforts,
ical distributor association Fecc for the past there is still plenty left to do. Skou is rmly
four years. But we must win battles and get behind the drive to widen the use of third-
three to four successes under our belt, so we party verication (TPV) of company perfor-
can be seen to be successful. mance, which has not been adopted as widely
ICCTA, formed in 1991, represents the as hoped across the industry. Perhaps, he says,
chemical distribution and trading industry on we need to crawl before we walk and devise
the global stage, with membership consisting some way of introducing TPV at an intermedi-
of 20 national and regional trade associations ate level for the smaller distributors. This will
across Europe and the Americas, as well as be on the ICCTA agenda, he indicates, but may
one in China. We need to... devise some not be pursued until next year.
Says Skou: Globalisation is a trend that is
here to stay and one we must learn how to
way of introducing TPV at an GLOBAL ASSOCIATION
work with. Working strongly together with intermediate level for the Also on Skous to do list is to develop ICCTA
our national and regional associations will smaller distributors into a more global association, bringing in trade
put our industry in a solid position not only associations, for example, in Australia, New
PETER SKOU
to face properly the challenges of globalisa- President, ICCTA Zealand, India, and even Africa, and to widen
tion but also to take advantage of them. participation in the association by encouraging
new people to take part in its activities. He also
INDUSTRY COLLABORATION tional Council of Chemical Associations], says wants to develop ICCTAs activities on trade,
Fecc has agreed to provide ICCTA with secre- Skou. ICCA is ICCTAs counterpart representing which he views as another important area to ad-
tariat support for the next two years. Skou chemical producers in the international arena. dress as business becomes more and more glob-
will be working hard to ensure ICCTA takes a This is a key goal, given that both associations al. We want to be able to develop best practice
pragmatic approach and becomes more acces- are representing the industry and seeking to co- and take a more commercial approach than we
sible and of wider interest to the 1,600 compa- ordinate programmes of international interest. have done before. But for this to happen it
nies, many of them small and medium-sized The two bodies cooperate on a regular basis means that more people have to chip in and
enterprises, that it ultimately represents. on issues of safety, health and environment help each other to make it successful.
At present, the ICCTA steering committee (SHE), trade policy, and industry efforts to elim- With these initiatives, and as ICCTA be-
meets twice a year alongside the Fecc annual inate chemical weapons and diversion to illegal comes a better known and more interesting
congress and the annual meeting of the Na- drugs. Skou envisages a closer working relation- association, Skou is optimistic that individu-
tional Association of Chemical Distributors ship, with more frequent dialogue, and points to al companies, especially those that operate on
(NACD) in the US. But Skou wants to develop the way Fecc works with closely with Cec, the a global scale, will feel encouraged to make a
a schedule of more frequent meetings, with European Chemical Industry Council. contribution to its activities.
the aim of involving more people from the in- One of the key areas ICCTA and ICCA co- Its a dream for me, he says, that one day
dustry in ICCTA affairs. operate in is the promotion of Responsible the big distribution companies will contribute
I also want to ensure that we develop an Care and Responsible Distribution, the vol- to ICCTA, complementing the input at nation-
even better relationship with ICCA [the Interna- untary initiatives that form the basis for the al and regional level that is in place today.
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