Sep 27 2006
Effective October 1, 2006 Degussa AG, Dusseldorf, will be placing the NCN business at its Trostberg and Schalchen sites in Bavaria, Germany, into a new legal entity known as AlzChem Trostberg GmbH. AlzChem will be a strong mid-sized player with clear regional roots.
Dr. Klaus Engel, Chairman of Degussa’s Board of Management, on the decision: “Our NCN activities operate in a difficult market and do not currently meet the profitability targets we have set ourselves as the world’s leading specialty chemicals company. To give this business the necessary future prospects we are therefore transferring it to an independent legal entity. Given the commitment shown by everyone involved and, above all, the constructive role played by the representatives of the workforce and the German labor union IG BCE, I am optimistic about its future development.”
The clear goal is to increase the flexibility of these operations and reduce costs through strict implementation of the structures of a mid-sized enterprise with a regional focus. To provide a sound basis for the future of these activities, Degussa has therefore initiated talks with representatives of the workforce on a solidarity pact, including a contribution by employees. AlzChem’s objective is to align itself optimally to market requirements and increase its independence from Degussa’s other activities.
AlzChem will be run by Stefan Greger (Managing Director Admini-stration) and Dr. Joachim Semel (Managing Director Technology). Present employment contracts will be transferred to the new company.
NCN chemicals are products with typical nitrogen-carbon-nitrogen bonds. A whole range of new products in this class have been devel-oped in Trostberg. The main applications are agriculture (e.g. crop protection, growth regulators and multi-purpose fertilizers), chemical products (e.g. pigments, pharmaceutical active substances and building blocks for chemical syntheses) and nutrition (e.g. creatine).