JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #135 - July/August 2020 - 13

What is the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on chemical groups in China?

In late 2019, Solvay
announced the
extension of its
Research and
Innovation (R&I)
Centre in Shanghai
"to further expand
its international
research hub and
drive future innovation and growth
(Source: Solvay)

interview

"

Brian Carroll,
Head of Media Relations
Solvay

JEC Composites Magazine: During
the lockdown in China, did Solvay
close all its businesses - factories
and offices - in China?

Brian Carroll: Some
of Solvay's sites in China were
closed for an extended period
over the Chinese New Year
holidays, in line with the Chinese
government's measures. As of
February 10, all of Solvay's sites in
China are open.
Do you see signs that the
coronavirus outbreak is subsiding in China? Have all your
Chinese businesses come
back to normal?
B.C.: Solvay's business in China
is slowly but surely picking up
again. During the confinement
period in China, many of our
employees have been working
remotely and are now returning
to work.
What will be the economic
impact of the Chinese lockdown for Solvay in terms of
production and revenue in
China?
B.C.: When we reported our
2019 full-year results on February 26, we shared a view at that
time that disruptions related to

Covid-19 were uncertain and we
expected an impact of approximately €25 million in Q1 related
to the Covid-19 crisis in China.
As our operations in the country
return to more normal conditions, we are working closely with
our customers in China to better
understand the impact Covid-19
has had on their businesses and
any resulting changes to their supply needs moving forward. We
will provide an update on these
assessments when we report our

interview

"

Michael Fahrig,
Corporate Communications
Spokesperson Trade & Technical Press
Lanxess

JEC Composites Magazine: During
the lockdown in China, did Lanxess
close all its businesses - factories
and offices - in China?

Michael Fahrig: We
have offices and/or factories in
Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou,
Hong Kong, Wuxi, Qingdao,
Liyang, Nantong, Changzhou,
Ningbo and Nanjing. Following
local government regulations, our
offices and production sites in
Greater China were closed until
February 9.
At this point, there are no
confirmed cases of coronavirus
among Lanxess employees in
Greater China.

first quarter results on May 6.
[Editor's note: Solvay reported a
€20 million impact of Covid-19
during Q1 in China].
Will the crisis have an impact
on Solvay's investments in
China?
B.C.: China is one of Solvay's
most important markets, where
the company has more than 40
years' presence.
Today, Solvay has a high-level
global research centre and 12
industrial sites in the country
with more than 2,500 employees.
The company is committed to
its long-term and sustainable
development in China, and
strives for providing innovative
and sustainable solutions and
high-quality local services to
many local markets.
Do you see signs that the
coronavirus outbreak is subsiding in China? Have all your
Chinese businesses come
back to normal?
M.F.: The control measures
taken by the central and local
governments have clearly shown
effect. By now, most provinces
have lowered their emergency
response levels and new cases all
over the country are flattening
out. From February 10, we gradually restarted operations. By now,
all our production sites in Greater
China have resumed production
and our offices in Greater China
are open. We still have some
control measures such as travel
restrictions in force and are in
close contact with the authorities
at all our sites to make sure that
we are compliant with all relevant
regulations.
What will be the economic impact of the Chinese lockdown
for Lanxess in terms of production and revenue in China?

N°135 July - August 2020

Prior to announcing the two projects
in Shanghai Chemical Industry Park,
Lanxess inaugurated its new high-tech
plastics plant in Changzhou, Jiangsu
province, in September 2019. €20 million were invested in the compounding
facility (Source: Lanxess)

M.F.: Due to the temporary lo-

cal production shutdowns in China, the disruption of some value
chains and a globally weakened
customer demand caused by the
coronavirus pandemic, Lanxess
expects impacts on sales and
operating result. [Editor's note:
In its results for the first quarter of
2020, Lanxess reported that sales
and earnings in the Engineering
Materials segment were burdened by weak demand from the
automotive industry as a result
of the coronavirus pandemic. At
€347 million, sales were down
9.2% on the prior year's figure of
€382 million.]

Will the crisis have an impact
on Lanxess' investments in
China?
M.F.: Lanxess aims for further
organic growth. At the end of
2019, we announced that we
had reserved 20 hectares of land
in Shanghai Chemical Industry
Park to set up an integrated site
and an integrated APAC Application Development Centre.
Both projects are progressing as
planned.
More information:
www.basf.com
www.solvay.com
www.lanxess.com

/ jec composites magazine

13
http://www.basf.com http://www.solvay.com http://www.lanxess.com
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #135 - July/August 2020

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