Evonik to Produce Catalysts in China in 2009

Evonik Industries, based in Essen (Germany), has commenced building a catalyst manufacturing plant, producing precious metal powder catalysts, in Shanghai (China). The plant will start operation in the fourth quarter of 2009. Precious metal powder catalysts are used in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals and industrial chemicals, where performance criteria such as high selectivity, activity and filterability are demanded. Some examples of the variety of applications of these catalysts include the highly selective synthesis of pharmaceutical active ingredients, and the production of precursors for polyurethanes which are further processed into such applications as foams for car seats and furniture.

Evonik is the worldwide leader in precious metal powder catalysts and currently has manufacturing facilities at four locations:

• Hanau (Germany)
• Tsukuba (Japan)
• Americana (Brazil)
• and Calvert City (Kentucky, USA)

With the new plant in Shanghai, Evonik is further enhancing its global activities. The pharmaceutical and fine chemicals industries are currently growing at annual rates of more than 15 percent in China – a key advantage of the Shanghai site is its proximity to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, where a number of pharmaceutical and fine chemical companies are located.

“We will be able to supply customers directly in China with our high-quality precious metal catalysts from the new plant,” said Dr. Hans-Josef Ritzert, head of the Catalysts Business Line of Evonik Industries. “This will allow us to serve our global customers and grow with them in China, and further expand our worldwide leading position.”

In addition, an important aspect of the use of precious metal powder catalysts is precious metal recycling, which Evonik will also offer in China through its existing partnership with Heraeus (www.heraeus.com). This will provide a complete precious metal service enabling customers to optimize their supply chain efficiencies.

Overall, Evonik employs 4200 people in China, and generated sales of €754 million in the region (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau) in fiscal year 2007, a 28 per cent increase over the previous year. In Shanghai, Evonik already employs more than 500 people in production, research and development, sales, marketing and service functions - with the addition of the new catalyst plant Evonik is continuing to expand its activities in China.

Evonik is a leading supplier of catalytic system solutions. It offers an extensive range of heterogeneous and certain homogeneous catalysts from a single source, as well as integrated services for customers from the life sciences, fine chemicals, industrial chemicals, chemical intermediates, and polymers industries.