The global spread of covid-19 and the increased uncertainty in the global economy are now having a serious impact on multiple industries around the world. In this environment, the chemical industry is not immune. Nevertheless, freudenberg, exxon mobil, YiShi, dow, hammer, basf, clariant, strong, wacker, DSM, Mr DE, solvay, honeywell, arkema huntsman, such as several multinational chemical companies in China are still actively response to the outbreak, promote return to work and production, with the successful marketing strategy, innovation technology to continue deepening China's market, still rely on the Chinese market.
"The Chinese market has reopened, and we are taking action."
Exxonmobil's ethylene project in huizhou, guangdong, is well underway. The picture shows the construction site. For figure (CFP)
The covid-19 outbreak has now dramatically affected the global economy. According to the international monetary fund's latest forecast, the global economy will shrink sharply by 3% in 2020; As the blockade has been gradually lifted in China, the whole market is getting on the right track fast. The economic growth in 2020 and 2021 are expected to be about 1.2% and 9.2% respectively. The relaunch of the Chinese market has also brought confidence to multinational companies in China. They have returned to work and production, and they are taking active actions to face the new situation of the Chinese market.
Bettina schoen-behanzin, Asia representative of the codebaugh group, said: "the codebaugh group has a history of more than 170 years. Our business cooperation in China has been going on for more than 100 years. In retrospect, we have been able to reinvent ourselves and adapt to changing circumstances through countless market fluctuations. "Despite the challenges ahead in 2020, we remain confident that China will continue to grow in the long term and will continue to expand our presence in this important market to provide innovative and sustainable solutions to the local market."
On April 22, exxonmobil huizhou ethylene project, a major national foreign investment project with a total investment of us $10 billion, started construction in daya bay petrochemical zone, huizhou, guangdong province. Following the basf fine chemical integration project in zhanjiang east island, this is another major petrochemical project in guangdong with a total foreign capital of 10 billion dollars. After the construction of the first phase of the project, the annual revenue is estimated to be 39 billion yuan. To this, the personage inside course of study says, the global COVID - 19 outbreak haze shrouded, daya bay this major project construction, make the world more clearly see China win the epidemic prevention and control and the double win of economic and social development of determination and confidence, more clearly see the fundamentals of China's economic development to good bright future for a long time, China's opening to the outside door is open.
On April 28, ashide coatings systems, a supplier of liquid and powder coatings, laid the foundation stone for the expansion of its jiading waterborne coatings plant in Shanghai. This is another important investment made by astor China for environmental protection waterborne coatings. The expanded waterborne coatings facility will enable ashmore to better meet the growing demand for sustainable waterborne coatings from automotive and industrial coatings customers in east and south China.
"The promotion of this water-based paint production expansion project is based on our firm confidence in China's economic development and market potential. "With the outbreak in China getting better and the government introducing policies to promote the development of several pillar industries, including the auto industry in particular, we see this as a good opportunity to invest in future growth and customer development." Wu chunping, President of ace China, said, "as the automotive and paint industries continue to upgrade to sustainable products, China's water-based paint market will continue to grow. This expansion will bring long-term competitive advantage to axide, consolidate our leading position in the water-based coating market, and benefit our company and customers at the same time." Aishi jiading factory is the production base of environmental protection waterborne coatings in China. The expanded plant will produce a new generation of world-leading waterborne coatings designed to promote industry upgrading and sustainability by creating a superior appearance, reducing energy consumption, and reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds (VOC).
Dow recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the local government in jiangsu province to invest $300 million over the next five years. "China is dow's second largest market and an important part of its global strategy," said xu Yang, general manager of public affairs and government affairs for greater China, in an interview with China chemical industry news. We are confident about the prospect of the Chinese market. We have an 18-month investment record for a new project in jiangsu province. "These steps demonstrate our commitment and confidence in China and are welcomed by the local government."
This year, the company announced plans to build a new advanced plant in China's zhejiang province. The new plant will be able to produce 50,000 tons of sustainable, innovative engineered nylon compounds per year. The company said that despite the outbreak, it signed the contract with dushan port economic development zone in pinghu city on February 20 through "cloud signing". The new plant will cost 12 million euros and have a floor space of more than 11,500 square meters. We plan to install a number of production lines in the first phase of development, with an estimated capacity of 25,000 tons per year, and will leave enough space for future expansion. This proves that investment and development in the asia-pacific region, especially in China, remain an important part of the company's global growth strategy.
China is currently basf's third largest market in the world after Germany and the United States, and it is also a major growth market for basf's business development, said a person in charge of basf in an interview with China chemical industry news. We remain confident in China's long-term economic development. Greater China is an important market for basf to achieve long-term profit growth. By 2030, two-thirds of the growth in the global chemical market will come from here. The year 2020 is the first year for the implementation of China's foreign investment law. China is further improving its business environment and opening itself wider to the outside world. As a loyal partner in China, basf will continue to put down roots in China, work more closely with customers and partners, continue to invest, produce and innovate, implement new business strategies, provide customers with new experiences, achieve common growth, and contribute to creating a sustainable and predictable future.
"In the face of the new situation, seize the opportunities in the Chinese market"
At this stage, globally, no one knows how long the special circumstances caused by covid-19 will last, but in China, the entire market is restarting thanks to the decisive and effective measures taken by the Chinese government at all levels. In fact, since mid-february, clariant China has been gradually getting back on track, with factory capacity nearly fully restored.
'China has been the world's largest producer of chemicals for the past few years and is expected to be the world's largest chemical market for the foreseeable future,' said wang anting, clariant's President in China. Based on this, China's transition to "growth and sustainable development of specialty chemicals" is both necessary and reasonable, and provides potential opportunities for companies like clariant to seize the future Chinese market with sustainable development as a long-term strategy.
Clariant has a clear plan for its growth in the Chinese market. "At this stage, driving a company with global operations like clariant is like driving a car in the fog," wang said. A good driver will slow down and wait until he can see the next corner clearly. That is what clariant and many other multinationals are doing. Globally, we are closely monitoring the situation and maintaining a high degree of caution, while taking our corporate social responsibilities seriously. As we have seen, the Chinese market is gradually restarting, thanks to the measures taken by the Chinese government. Clariant's factory capacity in China is almost fully utilized, and we travel more and more within China. Based on these developments, clariant is confident in both the short - and long-term prospects for China, and we believe clariant's business in China will take off again soon. Therefore, we will continue to proceed with our strategic projects as planned. Of course, we are also looking for new digital opportunities, and the way the chemical industry operates will change in the future."
Clariant has long been committed to developing the Chinese market, and this will not change with the covid-19 outbreak. In order to become a true "insider of the Chinese market", clariant has a clear strategic plan of "from the edge to the core" and has made China the core of its global strategy since 2016. "Over the past few years, we have been gradually expanding our footprint in China to include new factories, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, and the clariant integrated park in Shanghai, our regional operations headquarters and regional research and development center, scheduled to open in 2020." Wang anting said.
Families and strong China LeiHuanLi said in an interview with China chemical industry news reporter: "due to the spread of the epidemic in 2020, for enterprise development is full of challenge and uncertainty, but we see China government entities at all levels through various measures outbreak response, support enterprise development, and has achieved positive results, walk at the forefront of the global economic recovery. China's overall industrial chain structure, coupled with industrial upgrading, consumption upgrading, green development, circular economy and innovation-driven trends, will enhance the resilience of its economy. In the fight against the epidemic, we have seen the important role played by the chemical and plastics industries in the production of epidemic prevention supplies and medical products. At the same time, we have seen signs of recovery in some of our client industries in the Chinese market, such as electrical and electronic products that use our polycarbonate and paint materials."
Costron has always maintained confidence in China. It is reported that a few days ago, costron announced to upgrade its regional headquarters located in pudong, Shanghai, from a managed regional headquarters to a multi-functional regional headquarters integrating investment, management, operation and research and development, actively responding to the call of Shanghai to promote the construction of regional headquarters economy. This will ensure our significant growth in the Chinese market, enable us to expand our business in China more effectively, and provide kostron with new investment channels for potential internal and external investment opportunities in the region in the future. The new regional headquarters company, costron (Shanghai) investment co., LTD., received a business license in April.
"China has become one of costron's most important markets and we see it as our home market. In 2019, costron China's sales were 2.5 billion euros, accounting for about 20 percent of group sales. By the end of 2019, costron has invested more than 3.6 billion euros in China. Costron's investment in China is long-term, and we are also seeing the long-term and new demand for high-tech plastics brought about by China's industrial upgrading and sustainable development. Therefore, costron's confidence and commitment to the Chinese market will not change." Ms. Lei said.
Officials in wacker told reporters that they believe the outbreak will not change the Chinese government's determination to open wider to the outside world, and that China's investment environment will continue to improve. Faced with both opportunities and challenges, wacker will continue to improve its domestic r & d capabilities. In 2019, the wacker Shanghai r&d center expansion project was completed, with a new food laboratory, an electric vehicle capability center, and a cement/concrete capability center. In the future, wacker will use the Shanghai r&d center to further develop products and applications that meet the needs of the local market, and continue to develop in China with the continuous improvement of the living standards of the Chinese people and industrial upgrading.
It should be said that this outbreak is both a challenge and an opportunity for the manufacturing industry. "In navak, for example, we have a number of products that have continued to grow during this outbreak, such as online sales and novel coronavirus test samples that need to be labeled. Our organosilicon release business has grown rapidly. The same is true of some of our silicone elastomers, which are used in the production of respiratory masks, tubes, catheters and other important medical supplies. Vaques VAE emulsions are available for use in producing sterile tissues, and this portion of the business has also increased. In addition, we are also vigorously promoting organosilicon products for electronic information /5G and new energy vehicles, biotechnology products for nutrition and healthy diet, as well as organosilicon 3D printing for high-end manufacturing and some bio-based or low-voc products." "Says Mr Walker.
Jiang weiming, President of DSM China, said that nutrition and materials are the two most important business areas of DSM group. Both long-term market trends in China and short-term market vitality make DSM confident in the growth and development of the Chinese market. The outline of the "healthy China" 2030 plan puts forward a major decision to implement the "healthy China" strategy, emphasizing the importance of prevention, advocating a healthy and civilized lifestyle and preventing major diseases. At the same time, with the rise of the middle class, the concept of "big health", which advocates self-health management and pursues various whole-process life quality, has become increasingly prominent, and more Chinese consumers begin to embrace a health-centered lifestyle. In the post-epidemic era, people's attention to physical immunity and disease prevention will also increase greatly. DSM is committed to addressing global health and quality of life challenges through continuous innovation, improving the nutritional health of the population, maintaining health, and creating a better life. Facing the huge market prospect, DSM will continue to provide innovative nutrition solutions for customers and consumers in the Chinese market and promote the improvement of the nutritional health status of the whole society.
China has launched a 5g-centric investment plan for "new infrastructure," which will further promote the development of advanced materials and 5g-related applications. DSM materials solutions will also help customers improve product performance in 5G base stations, smart cars, smart phones and other related areas to better address strategic development needs. At the same time, DSM China continues to expand its development and strategic layout in the field of digital and intelligent manufacturing, and joins forces with local enterprises to better serve the Chinese market and customers.
"Travel is so relevant to the automotive industry that people may feel it would be very inconvenient without a car in the event of a similar outbreak," said Peter ng, global senior vice President and managing director for Asia Pacific at olson. I think this change in perception is good news for the auto industry. Auto sales nationwide rose 4.4 percent in April from a month earlier, ending a 21-month decline, according to the latest figures from the China association of automobile manufacturers. We believe that with the recovery and development of auto industry demand, it is bound to be ready for our business growth. In particular, olson is very optimistic about the future development of the electric vehicle industry in the Chinese market. Our PA66 product line for electric vehicles has excellent performance in various aspects such as power transmission systems, battery safety and range. The Chinese government has made outstanding achievements in epidemic prevention and control and taken strong financial measures to promote economic recovery. I am confident in the growth of our business and have great expectations for our PA66."
"Our investment plans for Asia and China will not change because of the epidemic," he said. We have been actively pursuing investment projects in China, as well as developing customized products and solutions for the Asian market, with a focus on automotive, electronics and electrical, and consumer and industrial applications. In addition, we are actively exploring the development of some products related to epidemic prevention, and the company is accelerating the speed of product development and market launch."
"Innovative development, contributing to the Chinese market"
In interviews with dozens of multinational chemical enterprises in China, the journalist also heard the following statement: "the most important thing for China is to continue to expand reform and opening up, continuously improve the business environment and promote innovation