Reportlinker Adds The Top 10 European Specialty Chemicals Companies: Changing Business Models, Strategies and SWOTs

NEW YORK, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

The Top 10 European Specialty Chemicals Companies: Changing business models, strategies and SWOTs

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0203699/The-Top-10-European-Specialty-Chemicals-Companies-Changing-business-models-strategies-and-SWOTs.html

The specialty chemicals operations of major European players remained relatively resilient during the economic downturn compared to their other business lines. The 2005-09 period witnessed a considerable rise in consolidation activities among European companies. Some players are focused on backward integration of operations whilst others are aiming to offload non-core franchises. Consolidation is in part prompted by fluctuations in raw material prices and rising competitiveness in the global marketplace.

The report profiles major European players in the specialty chemicals segment and elucidates trends associated with these companies, and insights into the opportunities and threats facing them. This report provides detailed profiles of ten leading European specialty chemicals companies, and brief profiles of other major players. The detailed profiles contain descriptions of business, financial performance, growth strategies and SWOT analyses. Analysis is based on:

• Each company's consolidated and segmental financial performance;

• Each company's growth strategies and major acquisitions and divestments relating to the specialty chemicals market;

• Key partnerships and alliances formed by these companies;

• Business-related strengths and weaknesses of these companies.

Key features of this report

• Key drivers and resistors to growth of leading European specialty chemicals companies.

• Common industry characteristics in strategies and performance of European specialty chemicals companies.

• Analysis of financial performance and growth strategies of leading specialty chemicals companies during 2005–09.

• Overview of specialty chemicals product portfolios of leading companies.

• SWOT analysis of the leading European specialty chemicals companies.

Scope of this report

• Learn from the strategies of European specialty chemicals companies to target future growth markets effectively, avoid their mistakes, replicate their successes and learn of the threats they face.

• Benchmark your performance against the leading European specialty chemicals companies by understanding their strategies.

• Measure the resilience of specialty chemicals operations of European companies during the economic downturn.

• Compare performances of specialty and non-specialty chemicals operations of European companies in the global soft drink market arising from the change in consumers' preferences and global recession.

• Save time, money and resources on analyzing the performance of leading specialty chemicals companies using this report.

Key Market Issues

• Raw material price fluctuations: Review of the 2005-09 period indicates that profits of specialty chemicals operations of leading European players are influenced by fluctuations in raw material prices. Rise in prices in early 2008 coupled with lack of backward integration squeezed margins of Ciba leading to its acquisition by BASF. Fall in prices during the economic downturn had considerable effects on operating margins of European players.

• Fall in demand during downturn: Fall in demand considerably suppressed operating income of European companies in 2009. However, prompt restructuring activities enabled several companies to maintain steady levels of operating margin.

• Relative resilience of specialty chemicals operations: Business Insights observes that the impact was less profound when compared to non-specialty chemicals. The contribution of specialty chemicals to the decline in consolidated revenues was relatively modest. Our in house developed Revenue Growth Index clearly differentiates the performance of specialty and non-specialty operations of European players.

• Consolidation: European players are focused on consolidating their position in the global specialty chemicals market through backward integration and shifting attention to core franchises. Ciba merged with BASF, sensing opportunities for backward integration. Lanxess divested its paper chemicals business, which was later acquired by Kemira.

Key findings from this report

• Business Insights forecasts that the global specialty chemicals market will grow at a CAGR of 2% during 2010–14 to reach a total value of approximately $319bn in 2014.

• The 15 leading European companies generated $44.9bn sales in 2009, accounting for 15.6% of the $288bn global specialty chemicals market.

• BASF was the largest European specialty chemicals company with $13bn sales in 2009. The acquisition of Ciba in 2008 propelled the company's topline significantly.

• European specialty chemicals companies were not insulated from the fall in volume sales experienced by the global chemicals industry. The majority of these players were affected by the fall in industrial input costs as was observed in their selling prices.

• Business Insights' Revenue growth index found that during the downturn, specialty chemicals businesses of European players performed better than their non-specialty operations.

Key questions answered

• What was the market size of the global specialty chemicals industry by value in 2009?

• What will be the market size of the global specialty chemicals industry during 2010-14?

• What are the key trends observed in the European specialty chemicals companies and strategic responses that are taking shape?

• Who are the major European players in the global specialty chemicals market?

• What are the growth strategies of the leading 10 companies?

Table of Contents

The Top 10 European Specialty Chemicals Companies

Executive summary 12

Competitive landscape 12

BASF 12

AkzoNobel 13

Clariant 13

Evonik Industries 14

Cognis 14

Kemira 15

Lanxess 15

Rhodia 15

Wacker 16

Croda 16

Chapter 1 Introduction 20

What is this report about? 20

Methodology 20

Chapter 2 Competitive dynamics 24

Summary 24

Introduction 24

Defining specialty chemicals 25

Global specialty chemicals market 27

Competitive positioning of major European specialty chemicals companies 27

Trends 30

Drivers and resistors 30

European specialty chemicals weather recession 30

Consolidation underway in the industry 32

Focus on emerging markets, especially China rises 33

Slow shift towards natural raw materials 34

Chapter 3 BASF 36

Summary 36

Company overview 36

Recent financial performance 37

Performance by business segments 38

Performance of specialty chemicals business 39

Growth strategies 40

New products/applications 40

Expansion in emerging markets 41

Partnerships and alliances 41

Acquisitions and divestments 42

SWOT analysis 43

Chapter 4 AkzoNobel 46

Summary 46

Company overview 46

Recent financial performance 47

Performance by business segments 48

Performance of specialty chemicals business 49

Growth strategies 50

Expansion in emerging markets 50

Acquisitions and divestments 50

SWOT analysis 51

Chapter 5 Clariant 54

Summary 54

Company overview 54

Recent financial performance 55

Performance by business segments 56

Performance of specialty chemicals business 57

Growth strategies 58

Leaner product spectrum for better profitability 58

Expansion in emerging markets 59

Partnerships and alliances 59

Acquisitions and divestments 59

SWOT analysis 60

Chapter 6 Evonik Industries 62

Summary 62

Company overview 62

Recent financial performance 63

Performance by business segments 64

Performance of specialty chemicals business 65

Growth strategies 66

Increasing focus on specialty chemicals 66

Expansion in emerging markets 66

SWOT analysis 67

Chapter 7 Cognis 70

Summary 70

Company overview 70

Recent financial performance 71

Performance by business segments 72

Performance of specialty chemicals business 73

Growth strategies 74

Identifying new product applications and expanding product family spectrum 74

Expansion in emerging markets 75

SWOT analysis 76

Chapter 8 Kemira 78

Summary 78

Company overview 78

Recent financial performance 79

Performance by business segments 79

Performance of specialty chemicals business 80

Growth strategies 81

Expansion in emerging markets 81

Partnerships and alliances 82

Acquisitions 82

SWOT analysis 83

Chapter 9 Lanxess 86

Summary 86

Company overview 86

Recent financial performance 87

Performance by business segments 88

Performance of specialty chemicals business 89

Growth strategies 90

New product launches 90

Expansion in emerging markets 90

SWOT analysis 92

Chapter 10 Rhodia 94

Summary 94

Company overview 94

Recent financial performance 95

Performance by business segments 96

Performance of specialty chemicals business 97

Growth strategies 98

Identifying new product applications and expanding product family spectrum 98

Expansion in emerging markets 98

Surfactant business strengthened through McIntyre acquisition 99

SWOT analysis 99

Chapter 11 Wacker 102

Summary 102

Company overview 102

Recent financial performance 103

Performance by business segments 104

Performance of specialty chemicals business 105

Growth strategies 106

Identifying new product applications and expanding product family spectrum 106

Expansion in emerging markets 106

Partnerships and alliances 107

SWOT analysis 108

Chapter 12 Croda 110

Summary 110

Company overview 110

Recent financial performance 111

Performance of business segments 112

Growth strategies 113

Reducing influence of commodities 113

SWOT analysis 114

Chapter 13 Other major players 116

Altana 116

Company overview 116

Recent financial performance 116

Performance of specialty chemicals business 117

Umicore 118

Company overview 118

Recent financial performance 119

Performance of specialty chemicals business 120

Sud-Chemie 121

Company overview 121

Recent financial performance 122

Performance of specialty chemicals 123

Arkema 124

Company overview 124

Recent financial performance 125

Performance of specialty chemicals 126

Yule Catto 127

Company overview 127

Recent financial performance 128

Performance of specialty chemicals 129

Appendix 131

Definitions 131

Revenue growth index 131

REACH 131

Exchange rates 131

Index 132

List of Figures

Figure 2.1: Business Insights' chemical industry matrix 26

Figure 2.2: Competitive position of European specialty chemicals companies, 2009 29

Figure 2.3: Drivers and resistors of the specialty chemicals industry 30

Figure 2.4: Revenue growth index of European specialty chemicals companies, 2005–09 32

Figure 3.5: BASF's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 38

Figure 3.6: BASF SWOT analysis 43

Figure 4.7: AkzoNobel's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 48

Figure 4.8: AkzoNobel SWOT analysis 51

Figure 5.9: Clariant's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 56

Figure 5.10: Clariant SWOT analysis 60

Figure 6.11: Evonik Industries' consolidated financial performance, 2006–09 64

Figure 6.12: Evonik Industries SWOT analysis 67

Figure 7.13: Cognis' consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 72

Figure 7.14: Cognis SWOT analysis 76

Figure 8.15: Kemira SWOT analysis 83

Figure 9.16: Lanxess' consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 88

Figure 9.17: Lanxess SWOT analysis 92

Figure 10.18: Rhodia's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 96

Figure 10.19: Rhodia SWOT analysis 99

Figure 11.20: Wacker's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 104

Figure 11.21: Wacker's SWOT analysis 108

Figure 12.22: Croda's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 112

Figure 12.23: Croda SWOT analysis 114

Figure 13.24: Altana's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 117

Figure 13.25: Umicore's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 120

Figure 13.26: Sud-Chemie's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 123

Figure 13.27: Arkema's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 126

Figure 13.28: Yule Catto's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 129

List of Tables

Table 2.1: Global specialty chemicals market size ($bn), 2009–14 27

Table 2.2: Key financials of European specialty chemicals players, 2009 28

Table 2.3: Financial performance of specialty chemicals operations of European companies, 2005–09 31

Table 2.4: Illustrative examples of green products from European specialty chemicals companies 34

Table 3.5: BASF snapshot 36

Table 3.6: BASF's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 37

Table 3.7: Financial performance of BASF's business segments, 2009 38

Table 3.8: BASF's specialty chemicals portfolio 39

Table 3.9: Financial performance of BASF's specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 40

Table 3.10: BASF: new products/applications, 2008–09 41

Table 3.11: BASF's partnership deals, 2008–09 42

Table 4.12: AkzoNobel snapshot 46

Table 4.13: AkzoNobel's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 47

Table 4.14: Performance of AkzoNobel's business segments, 2009 48

Table 4.15: AkzoNobel's specialty chemicals operations, 2009 49

Table 4.16: Financial performance of AkzoNobel's specialty chemicals business, 2007–09 50

Table 4.17: AkzoNobel acquisitions, 2008–09 51

Table 5.18: Clariant snapshot 54

Table 5.19: Clariant's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 55

Table 5.20: Performance of Clariant's business segments, 2009 56

Table 5.21: Clariant's specialty chemicals portfolio, 2009 57

Table 5.22: Financial performance of Clariant's specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 58

Table 5.23: Clariant: new products/applications, 2008–09 58

Table 6.24: Evonik Industries snapshot 62

Table 6.25: Evonik Industries' consolidated financial performance, 2006–09 63

Table 6.26: Performance of Evonik Industries' business segments, 2009 65

Table 6.27: Evonik Industries' specialty chemicals portfolio 65

Table 6.28: Financial performance of Evonik Industries' specialty chemicals business, 2006–09 66

Table 7.29: Cognis snapshot 70

Table 7.30: Cognis' consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 71

Table 7.31: Performance of Cognis' business segments, 2009 72

Table 7.32: Cognis' specialty chemicals portfolio 73

Table 7.33: Financial performance of Cognis' specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 74

Table 7.34: Cognis: new products/applications, 2008–09 75

Table 8.35: Kemira snapshot 78

Table 8.36: Kemira's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 79

Table 8.37: Performance of Kemira's business segments, 2009 80

Table 8.38: Kemira's specialty chemicals portfolio 80

Table 8.39: Financial performance of Kemira's specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 81

Table 8.40: Kemira's acquisitions, 2008–09 82

Table 9.41: Lanxess snapshot 86

Table 9.42: Lanxess' consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 87

Table 9.43: Performance of Lanxess' business segments, 2009 89

Table 9.44: Lanxess' specialty chemicals portfolio 89

Table 9.45: Financial performance of Lanxess' specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 90

Table 9.46: Lanxess: new products/applications, 2008–09 90

Table 10.47: Rhodia snapshot 94

Table 10.48: Rhodia's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 95

Table 10.49: Performance of Rhodia's business segments, 2009 96

Table 10.50: Rhodia's specialty chemicals portfolio 97

Table 10.51: Financial performance of Rhodia's specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 97

Table 10.52: Rhodia: new products/applications, 2008–09 98

Table 11.53: Wacker snapshot 102

Table 11.54: Wacker's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 103

Table 11.55: Performance of Wacker's business segments, 2009 104

Table 11.56: Wacker's specialty chemicals portfolio 105

Table 11.57: Financial performance of Wacker's specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 105

Table 11.58: Wacker: new products/applications, 2008–09 106

Table 11.59: Wacker's partnership deals, 2008–09 107

Table 12.60: Croda's snapshot 110

Table 12.61: Croda's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 111

Table 12.62: Performance of Croda's business segments, 2009 113

Table 12.63: Croda's specialty chemicals portfolio 113

Table 13.64: Altana snapshot 116

Table 13.65: Altana's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 117

Table 13.66: Financial performance of Altana's specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 118

Table 13.67: Umicore snapshot 118

Table 13.68: Umicore's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 119

Table 13.69: Financial performance of Umicore's specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 121

Table 13.70: Sud-Chemie snapshot 121

Table 13.71: Sud-Chemie's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 122

Table 13.72: Financial performance of Sud-Chemie's specialty chemicals business, 2005–09 124

Table 13.73: Arkema snapshot 124

Table 13.74: Arkema's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 125

Table 13.75: Financial performance of Arkema's specialty chemicals business, 2006–09 127

Table 13.76: Yule Catto snapshot 127

Table 13.77: Yule Catto's consolidated financial performance, 2005–09 128

Table 13.78: Financial performance of Yule Catto's specialty chemicals business, 2006–09 130

Companies mentionedAkzoNobel , BASF , Clariant , Cognis , Croda, Evonik Industries , Kemira , Lanxess , Rhodia , Wacker ,

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