Polymer maker keen to change perceptions of plastics industry

Covestro, a German high-tech polymer materials developer and supplier, has vowed to strengthen innovation and promote sustainability in the Chinese market to maintain long-term growth.

The company has reported significant growth in China over the past few years due to continuously booming market demand. Demonstrating Covestro's core business performance, its revenue in China was 2.23 billion euros ($2.5 billion) in the first nine months of 2017, topping the United States market revenue of 2.21 billion euros and making China the company's biggest market.

Covestro's core volume in China gained 9.7 percent year-on-year growth in the first nine months, while that of the US market added only 0.8 percent, in part hit by Hurricane Harvey.

"Our speed of growth is higher in China than in the rest of the world," said Bjoern Skogum, president of Covestro China.

Skogum said sales revenue from China now accounts for 21 percent of Covestro's global sales, up from about 10 percent a decade ago.

Supported by the strong demand in China for newly developed high-tech materials, Skogum said he expects Covestro will report "mid-to-high single-digit growth" in the Chinese market this year that is "on par or above the country's GDP growth rate".

In the third quarter, China registered year-on-year GDP growth of 6.8 percent, with combined growth in the first nine months coming in at 6.9 percent.

In upcoming years, Covestro plans to offer an extensive portfolio of material solutions in China, for instance, in the construction, automotive, electrical and electronics, furniture and healthcare industries. That is by working closely with customers to develop new products and improve existing ones to meet their changing needs.

In the energy industry, Covestro has with its partners developed a new material to make wind turbine blades lighter and therefore more efficient in power generation.

In the e-mobility sector, the company will strive to grasp the opportunities presented by the trend for car sharing and the development of smart technology.

More water-based coating and painting materials for furniture will be supplied to the Chinese market to better serve local demand, according to Skogum.

Promoting innovation

Covestro has long been promoting innovation to better serve local customers and support its growth in the Chinese market.

"Innovation is the core of the company," Skogum said. "Innovation for Covestro is not only about innovating new products or new applications. For us, innovation is in everything, including in the way we do business."

The company has established its Polymer Research and Development Center in Shanghai to support technical development for polyurethanes, polycarbonates, coatings, adhesives and specialty business units.

Apart from adding more innovation supporting facilities, Covestro is also keen to establish partnerships with local leading universities and academic institutions to promote its research and development and the commercialization of research results.

In May, Covestro and Tongji University held the 2017 Innovation Day and an inauguration ceremony for the Covestro-Tongji Innovation Academy, to promote innovation in the transportation and construction fields.

As well as innovative solutions, Skogum said his company also wants its products to be sustainable solutions.

"The perception about the chemicals industry and plastics industry is that plastics are something bad. We try to say that plastics are an essential part of our society and plastics are necessary to develop our society," added Skogum.

"It just has to be more sustainable. We do not want our plastics to end up in the ocean. We would like our plastics to be used in a way that creates sustainability for society, and hopefully for them to be reused afterwards."

tangzhihao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/28/2017 page18)