Investment into a new R&D center in Thailand
Thailand to become the group-wide hub for Oleochemical Technologies
ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions, the plant engineering and construction specialist of the ThyssenKrupp Group, celebrated its 25th Anniversary in Thailand and announced further investments to strengthen its position as one of the leading plant engineering companies in the region. Representatives from government, customers from major industries and employees attended the announcement in Bangkok.
Jens Michael Wegmann, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Operating Officer of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions stated: “We are proud to have accompanied Thailand’s modernization progress through partnering on a number of landmark projects in the last 25 years. Today, about half of our around 1,000 employees in the Asia-Pacific region are based in Thailand, which serves as a major hub for our operations in the region and will play an important role in reaching our growth targets in the Asia-Pacific region.”
As a part of this growth strategy, ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions is expanding its Specialty Chemical and Oleochemical Technology Portfolio through acquiring technologies for the production of special industrial chemicals based on renewable raw materials from Inventa Technologies, Singapore. In order to further strengthen its regional footprint, the company will also invest into a new Research and Development center in Rayong (Thailand), including pilot plants and laboratory infrastructure. The R&D center will complement the existing engineering hub in Thailand, making it the technology and competence hub for Oleochemical Technologies within ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions. ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions is committed to invest more than USD 20 Million into the new technologies and related acquisitions.“Technology leadership and innovation capabilities in combination with engineering expertise, procurement and project management capabilities are valued by our global customers. The acquisition of Inventa’s well recognized technologies showcases both our commitment to the region and our determination to expand our technology portfolio into strategic growth markets,” said Detlef Sudmann, Managing Director of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions in Thailand.
The acquisition comprises three technology platforms in the fields of alkoxylation, esterification as well as fatty amines. The current worldwide production capacity in these fields is estimated at 7 million tons per annum, and can be found in the cosmetics, food, health supplements and pharmaceutical sectors. Fatty amines are also used in applications for the oilfield, metal and agrochemicals industries.
The major drivers for these investments are the projection of strong population growth particularly in Asia-Pacific, as well as the increasing focus on environmentally friendly solutions in emerging countries and the Americas. The estimated market growth rate, for these technologies, in Asia Pacific is 8.5% compared to an expected global market growth rate of about 6%.
ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (Thailand) is one of the country’s leading multidisciplinary engineering and project delivery contractors. Through its offices in Bangkok and Map Ta Phut, the company services its customers in the chemicals, petrochemicals, oleochemicals, refinery, upstream and downstream oil & gas, polymer, fiber, fertilizer, bioplastics, cement, minerals processing, materials handling and general industry sectors. Since the start of its operations in the country in 1990, ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions has successfully completed more than 80 contracts, including Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) lump sum / fixed price projects and lifecycle services for clients in Thailand and South East Asia.