Majority interest in joint venture with Alvigo AS, manufacturer of industrial catalysts in Russia and the former Soviet Union

Süd-Chemie AG and ALVIGO AS have jointly formed Süd-Chemie Alvigo Catalysts GmbH. Based on the financial investment contributed by Süd-Chemie, Süd-Chemie holds a 60% share in the joint venture, which has taken over ALVIGO's entire catalyst business. The main activities acquired include the catalyst production site and related research operations in Severodonetsk, Ukraine, and the sales office in Moscow, with a total of more than 300 employees. It was agreed that the purchase price would not be disclosed. Main part of the joint venture's product portfolio will be syngas catalysts, which are required in the chemical processing of natural gas and coal. They are used for instance in the production of ammonia - one of the key base chemicals for the fertiliser industry - and of methanol and hydrogen. Methanol and hydrogen markets are dynamically expanding and have high growth potential, driven in particular by new technologies in the fuel sector including DME, gas-to-liquid (GTL), coal-to-liquid (CTL) and biomass-to-liquid (BTL) processes as well as in the petrochemicals industry including methanol-to-propylene (MTP®) conversion. As oil becomes increasingly scarcer and more expensive, the demand for syngas catalysts is rising rapidly, especially in countries and regions with high deposits of natural gas and coal, such as Russia, China, the United States and the Middle East.