Shutterstock
The Business Side: BASF, Pfeiffer and Evonik Share Reorganization, Rebranding and Construction Funding Efforts
Oct. 16, 2024
This week, Evonik shared its overhauling two of its business units to help accelerate growth in those sectors and Pfeiffer Vacuum renames and rebrands itself to better reflect its offerings. Plus, BASF made headway on funding for a project that will further help decarbonize its operations. Read more on these stories below.
Evonik Reorganizes Business Lines
Specialty chemicals maker Evonik is realigning its Coating & Adhesive Resins and Health Care business lines to concentrate on future investments and growth. Any remaining businesses outside these cores will be sold, incorporated into partnerships or discontinued, said Evonik in a press statement. In total, businesses affected by these changes generate sales of €350 million (US$380 million).
The Health Care business line will focus on lipids for mRNA and gene therapies, drug delivery systems and cell culture ingredients. The production of keto acids for pharmaceutical applications in Hanau is to be discontinued at the end of 2025, however, its keto acid production sites in Germany and China are being evaluated for possible partnerships or divestment.
The entire amino and keto acids business on average generated sales of around €100 million (US$108 million) in recent years.
The Coating & Adhesive Resins business line will focus on liquid polybutadienes as additives for adhesives and sealants or tires, as well as specialty acrylics for medical technology and the packaging industry. Its existing polyolefins business will be transferred to Evonik’s C4 chain business.
The polyester business for coating and adhesive applications will be sold. It has around 330 employees at two sites. The largest site, with around 250 employees, is in Germany, and a smaller plant in Shanghai has some 30 employees. The business has an annual turnover of around €150 million (US$162 million).
Pfeiffer Vacuum Becomes Pfeiffer Vacuum+Fab Solutions
Pfeiffer Vacuum, a member of the global Busch Group, has rebranded into Pfeiffer Vacuum+Fab Solutions to better reflect Pfeiffer as a supplier for both vacuum and semiconductor fab solutions.
The new name and logo launched in sequence with the 70th anniversary of the company’s first major innovation. In 1954 and 1955, the turbomolecular vacuum pump was developed at Pfeiffer.
BASF Receives Funding to Build Net-Zero Heat Pump in Germany
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action has approved funding for the construction of the world’s largest industrial heat pump at BASF’s Ludwigshafen site. The pump is designed to reduce CO2 emissions, thus the Ministry is contributing around $310 million to the project as part of the Carbon Contracts for Difference funding program.
Start of construction is planned for the first quarter of 2025 and commissioning scheduled for 2027.
The heat pump will produce up to 500,000 metric tons of steam per year, using waste heat generated by one of the site’s two steam crackers. Powered by electricity from renewable energy, CO2-free steam is thus generated primarily for use in the production of formic acid. Here, the heat pump has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 98%, said BASF in a press release.
A smaller proportion of the steam will serve other BASF production plants via the site’s steam network. In total, the heat pump will reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the company’s headquarters by up to 100,000 metric tons per year.
