Clariant Makes Jump into Asian Market

By Jim.Robinson|November 10, 2011

Muttenz, Switzerland-based Clariant is one of many companies that has recently invested in Southeast Asia in order to obtain a slice of the region’s market share. The company just announced the opening of its new regional headquarters for the Southeast Asia & Pacific region in addition to its Global Textile headquarters, both of which are located in Singapore.

“Expanding Clariant’s business in the fast-growing Asian region is an important pillar in our profitable growth strategy and a strong commitment to serving our customers and markets,” CEO Hariolf Kottmann said in a statement.

Clariant’s new regional hub is the first headquarters to be shared by Clariant and Süd-Chemie. The current 200 employees based at the Singapore location will support customers in the Southeast Asia and Pacific regions, according to the company. In the last five years, Clariant’s sales in the Asia Pacific region have grown from 17%to about 22 percent. At the same time, investment reached more than $225 million in China alone. Clariant’s acquisition of Süd-Chemie will add significantly to this growth.

In 2010, Clariant’s textile business generated sales of $931 million. With more than 60%of global textile production based in the Asia Pacific region, Clariant already generates 43% of its textile chemicals sales from Asia, according to the company. With its relocation from Switzerland now complete, the new headquarters will accommodate the entire senior Textile Chemicals management team.