Questions to the Business Presidents

How would you describe the performance of your business units in 2024?

Angela Cackovich, President Business Unit Adsorbents & Additives: Adsorbents & Additives maintained stable sales in local currency, with volumes growing by 1%. I'm particularly pleased with the performance of our Additives segment, which showed improvement against the previous year, driven by increased demand and successful new business development.

Jens Cuntze, President Business Unit Catalysts:
2024 was admittedly challenging for Catalysts with a 9% sales decrease in local currency. This was mainly due to lower customer utilization rates and shifts in regular refill cycles. However, we're proud that our catalyst products helped customers avoid approximately 40 million tons of CO2e emissions, showing our commitment to sustainability.

Christian Vang, President Business Unit Care Chemicals:
Despite the challenging environment, Care Chemicals maintained strong market positions. While our sales decreased slightly by 1% in local currency, we saw impressive volume growth in key areas like Mining Solutions, Personal & Home Care, and Industrial Applications. The acquisition of Lucas Meyer Cosmetics was particularly significant for strengthening our position in high-value cosmetic ingredients.

What were your key innovations and achievements in 2024?

Christian Vang: The launch of our Beauty ColLABoration House near Los Angeles was a major milestone for Care Chemicals. It's already proving to be an excellent hub for collaborative product development with customers. We also introduced several innovative products, including CycloRetin™, Corneopeptyl™ and Pickmulse™, our new quinoa-based skin-friendly emulsifier.

Angela Cackovich: A significant achievement was our complete transition to a PFAS-free additive portfolio. We introduced several sustainable solutions like Ceridust™ 8170 M and our new AddWorks™ PPA line. We also achieved significant milestones for our Adsorbents business such as the commissioning of an upgraded production line for its Tonsil™ RNF series at our Pohang site in Korea.

Jens Cuntze: At Catalysts, we launched CLARITY™ Prime, our advanced digital service for optimizing catalyst operations. Our partnership with Lummus Technology secured several important contracts, and our new CATOFIN™ 312 catalyst offers up to 20% longer life and greater selectivity, potentially increasing productivity significantly for our customers.

Looking ahead, what opportunities do you see in your markets?

Jens Cuntze: As future technologies are more widely adopted, we expect to see even greater carbon savings over the coming years through catalysts. The energy transition presents significant opportunities for our innovative technologies.

Christian Vang: Care Chemicals is present in fast-growing markets and sees exciting growth opportunities in both consumer and industrial markets. The integration of Lucas Meyer Cosmetics opens up new possibilities in the high-value cosmetic ingredients sector.

Angela Cackovich: We have unique technologies in our Adsorbents and Additives portfolio, and combined with our techno-commercial expertise, we're well-positioned to help customers achieve their sustainability targets, which is becoming increasingly important across all industries.