Reduction of energy consumption has become one new source for chemical enterprises to reap profits in China.
Jan Kreibaum, regional president for China of Swiss-based specialty chemicals producer Clariant, said at a recent industry forum that "Chinese market contributed prominently on automobile and pigment business driven by energy saving causes."
The firm posted an annual growth of 5 percent on plastics and coating businesses over the first half, to which in collaboration with BMW on 5 series production, Clariant is providing a chemical foam that helps reduce car weight by 20 percent at the most through substituting metal or wood with plastics parts. The car hit total sales volume of close to 70,000, ranking it at the top on bestselling in China from January to June, which in return raised the revenue growth for its partner Clariant.
"They need a reduction of car weight and we offered the solution thus also saving fuel consumptions," Kreibaum said.
"Part of contracts of catalyst in China has been delayed after 2018 as local downstream customers need to deal with overcapacity, especially those basic chemicals such as coal and gas," Kottmann said.
Clariant's sales edged up by 3 percent from last year for the first half at 2.9 billion CHF ($3 billion).
The US-based chemical company Cabot is also shifting toward advanced chemicals such as air purifying chemicals while trimming its traditional business of carbon black. German-based Covestro has put forward materials on solar planes and wind blades to capture the clean energy market in China.
