Since its official independent operation on September 1, 2015, Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience) has appeared with a new name and concept, and was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on October 6, 2015, German time; After independence, Covestro achieved all its financial goals for 2015, with annual global sales of 12.1 billion euros, profit of 1.64 billion euros, and free cash flow hitting a record high; it successfully entered the international bond market for the first time and successfully issued bonds of 1.5 billion euros; With such impressive achievements, Dr. An Juya, Senior Executive Vice President of the Polyurethane Business Department and Director of Business Operations in the Asia-Pacific Region, the largest business unit of Covestro, and Wang Li, the Head of Commercial Operations and Vice President of the Polyurethane Business in China The lady accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from Tiantian Chemical Network after the Chinese New Year of the Monkey.
Q: Tiantian Chemical Network
A: Dr. An Juya Senior Executive Vice President Covestro Polyurethane Business Unit Asia Pacific Business Operations Director
W: Ms. Wang Li Vice President Covestro Polyurethane Business Unit China Commercial Operations Manager
Q1: Now is the stage when major companies release their annual financial reports. Please briefly introduce Covestro’s 2015 annual performance? How is the performance of the polyurethane sector in the Asia Pacific region?
A: Covestro’s first year of independence has been very successful. All financial indicators were completed in 2015. Compared with the previous year, adjusted EBIT increased steadily and free cash flow reached a record high. According to the annual report, the adjusted EBIT in 2015 increased by 41.3% compared with 2014 to 1.64 billion euros. This success is mainly attributed to improved supply and demand situation and greater market capacity. As a result, total sales rose by 2.7 percent to 12.08 billion euros despite lower selling prices. Core sales growth as an important performance shows the overall control – year-on-year growth. If we look at the core volume, last year we achieved 2 to 3 growth points in the three sales regions. In fact, the China region grew by 4%. In the fourth quarter, core sales in China continued to grow significantly compared to the previous quarter. We are not worried about the Chinese market From a global perspective, China still maintains a steady growth rate.
The polyurethane division is the largest business unit of Covestro, which produces and develops high-quality foam raw materials. Mainly due to lower raw material prices, sales prices fell sharply, and sales decreased by 3.1% compared to the previous year to 6.09 billion euros. However, adjusted EBIT rose by 5.4 percent to 624 million euros.
Q2: As a new brand entering the market, what is the core competitiveness of Covestro in the Asia Pacific market? What is the strategy for marketing?
A: As a company with more than 80 years of innovation history, Covestro has an excellent historical heritage and is committed to the concept of “creating a wonderful world”. Sustainability, innovation and customer focus are at the heart of what we do in Asia Pacific and around the world. In terms of sustainable development, we joined the United Nations “Global Compact” program in 2015 – a program initiated by the United Nations to encourage companies that take the initiative to undertake and implement sustainability and corporate responsibility. For us, this commitment includes developing alternatives to the use of petrochemical raw materials. We will continue to optimize the production process of our products, use renewable raw materials and reduce CO2 emissions. We firmly believe that ensuring the safety, health and satisfaction of our 15,800 employees around the world is an important factor in our success.
We also rely heavily on innovation to strengthen our market position. Globally, we have nearly 1,000 researchers in our three R&D centers in Germany, the United States and China. They not only develop new products and applications, but also develop cost-reducing and sustainable production techniques. For example, we continue to promote the use of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to produce polyurethane as a way to reduce our industry’s dependence on petrochemical raw materials. This year, we will produce a new polyurethane polyol component, which includes the use of carbon dioxide to replace 20% of petroleum as a raw material for polyurethane production.
At the same time, our close cooperation with industry leaders and our customers has broadened our horizons in the fields of sustainable development and innovation. For example:
– Solar Impulse Aircraft: The first manned ultralight aircraft completed a round-the-world flight relying solely on solar energy. Covestro provided innovative material solutions for it, among which the new rigid microcellular foam material can well insulate the cockpit and protect drivers in extremely hot and extremely cold environments.
– Polyurethane composite material: Baiduo® polyurethane composite material is a composite material made of polyurethane resin and specified glass fiber through proprietary pultrusion technology. It is used in the manufacture of doors and windowsThere is an opportunity, get involved.
Interview link:
Dr. An Juya Senior Executive Vice President Covestro Polyurethane Business Unit Asia Pacific Business Operations Director
Dr. An Juya was the head of the Global Construction and Industrial Market Department before coming to Hong Kong. Dr. An Juya started her career at Siemens, Germany, as a project engineer engaged in research on semiconductor materials and processes, and also as a consultant to the University of Singapore.
Ms. Wang Li Vice President Covestro Polyurethane Business Unit Head of Commercial Operations in China
Ms. Wang Li is currently the vice president of China and Hong Kong of Polyurethane Business Operations Department of Covestro Polymers (China) Co., Ltd., responsible for the business of Covestro Polyurethanes in China. Before that, Ms. Wang worked in the procurement department of Covestro (Germany) Group, and was responsible for the strategic procurement of raw materials in the German headquarters. Before going to Germany, Ms. Wang worked as the sales director of polycarbonate South China region, responsible for the sales of polycarbonate for more than 10 years. In 2002, Ms. Wang Li joined Covestro. Before that, she worked in a Taiwanese electronics company for 2 years in the global procurement department.
Daily Chemical Network Reporter Special
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