MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland), a focused, sustainable and innovative specialty chemical company, says that Gunter von Au has been elected the company’s new chairman during its annual shareholders' meeting held on 7 April, as per the company's press release.
Clariant’s board had unanimously proposed to shareholders that Gunter von Au be elected chairman following an announcement in February by Harolf Kottmann, the company’s chairman since 2018, that he would no longer be a candidate for the office of chairman and board member.
Gunter von Au, Chairman of Clariant’s Board of Directors, said “It is a great honor for me to be elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors, especially because of the close relationship that I have with this company for almost a decade now. Together with all my fellow board members as well as CEO Conrad Keijzer, I look forward to continuing Clariant’s successful path towards becoming one of the world’s leading companies for specialty chemicals and create value for all stakeholders, including shareholders.”
Meanwhile, Clariant’s shareholders approved at the meeting all agenda items and resolutions proposed by the board, including the distribution of an ordinary dividend of 0.70 Swiss francs (USD0.75) per share for the company’s performance over past two financial years; the integrated report and group consolidated financial statements for 2020; and the compensation report for 2020 on an advisory basis, the company says.
As MRC reported earlier, in December 2020, Clariant said that its board had appointed Conrad Keijzer as the company’s new CEO, effective 1 January 2021.
We remind that in October 2020, Clariant announced the construction of a new state-of-the-art catalyst production site in China. This project represents a significant investment which further strengthens Clariant’s position in China and enhances its ability to support its customers in the country’s thriving petrochemicals industry.
The new facility will be primarily responsible for producing the Catofin catalyst for propane dehydrogenation, which is used in the production of olefins such as propylene. Thanks to its excellent reliability and productivity, Catofin delivers superior annual production output compared to alternative technologies, resulting in increased overall profitability for propylene producers, says the company. Construction at the Dushan Port Economic Development Zone in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province was scheduled to commence in Q3 2020, and Clariant expects to be at full production capacity by 2022.
Propylene is the main feedstocks for the production of polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, PP shipments to the Russian market reached 141,870 tonnes in January 2021 versus 123,520 tonnes a year earlier. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC