September 12, 2007  Degussa   

Germany now has a new industrial group: Evonik Industries has arrived

Germany now has a new industrial group: Evonik Industries has arrived. At the company headquarters in Essen, Dr. Werner Müller, CEO of the entity previously operating under the name of RAG Beteiligungs-AG, today presented the new brand with which Evonik plans to enter the capital market in the first half of 2008. Evonik is Germany's creative industrial group for chemicals, energy and real estate. Our goal is to become one of the most creative industrial groups in the world,stated Dr. Müller as he introduced the new group brand. Our portfolio, which consists of the Chemicals, Energy, and Real Estate business areas, unites a strong substance with attractive growth potential,continued Dr. Müller. The industrial group has been christened Evonik Industries, representing the highlight of the companys strategic realignment. This is also the last step prior to entering the capital market. In the future, German coal mining operations will be known under the name of RAG, and will not be connected with Evonik, the new industrial group. Evonik is now entering a new era in group development. We are well positioned, and are looking forward to joining the capital market,said Dr. Müller.

Evonik Industries has achieved an impressive track record during the four years of group restructuring. The company significantly increased operating performance in this period. Sales rose 3 percent to Euro7.565 billion in the first six months (H1 2006: Euro7.328 billion). EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) rose 26 percent to Euro788 million (H1 2006: Euro625 million). Evonik has divested its portfolio of some 480 companies with sales of over Euro8 billion and 35,000 employees. During this time, the acquisition of Degussa was completed, and the shareholder squeeze-out was accomplished in just over three months, a record time for Germany. Group structures were also adjusted in a very short period of time to meet the requirements for operating as a modern, high-performance company.
We are now in a better position to develop our growth opportunities as a new force, right on time for the christening of Evonik,commented Dr. Müller.

Evonik Industries will expand its leading positions in attractive, highgrowth
 markets. The company will benefit in particular from the world's No. 1 economic megatrend - improving and increasing global energy efficiency. We are focusing here strongly on profitable growth, and plan to conquer the markets of the future with new, intelligent, leading products,according to Dr. Müller. Evonik already offers customers all over the world products, services, and problem solutions that help lower the consumption of natural resources and reduce CO2 emissions, thus using energy more efficiently. This includes production of key raw materials for the solar energy industry; technology for fuel-saving tires; modern, lightweight, and energy-saving materials for the transportation sector, for instance; coal-conserving power plants and renewable energies; and energy-saving solutions for housing construction. Many of the growth sprinters in our portfolio, with which we are already generating approximately ?3 billion in sales and very attractive margins, service? 'greenmarkets,commented Dr. Müller.

Active portfolio management
The company will continue to grow profitably, supported by the key competencies of Evonik Industries. In addition to reliability and a capacity for self-renewal, these features include in particular creativity and specialization.
We are setting international benchmarks with our products and services and are competent leaders in quality and technology,stated Dr. Müller. Evonik implements active portfolio management to invest in promising businesses. We use uniform group benchmarks to ensure an optimum allocation of capital,added Dr. Müller. He explained that these benchmarks include uniform minimum returns before taxes that are applicable to the entire group: 16 percent in the Chemicals business area, 10.5 percent in Energy, and 6.3 percent in Real Estate.

Innovative power as pace setter for profitable growth
Evonik Industries plans to increase its innovative power in order to expand the company's technological lead in its respective areas of business. Today, the Chemicals business area already generates 20 percent of its revenues from products that are less than five years old. Evonik has more than 20,000 patents and over 35 research locations worldwide. The model of strategic research, which is characterized by customer proximity, cooperation, and short development cycles, is an important pace setter when it comes to tapping new markets. Evonik will accelerate growth by developing its global presence in growth markets, particularly in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, and consistently reinforcing marketing and sales.
 

Creative advertising campaign to introduce new brand
The new brand of Evonik Industries, which along with the name and
 trademark also includes the new corporate color, ?deep purple,will be launched during the coming weeks and months within the framework of a creative advertising campaign. We intend to let our success be measured by the satisfaction of our employees and customers as well as our performance on the capital markets,stated Dr. Müller. He added that Evonik intends to create confidence by means of strong performance and good earnings to gain esteem as a prime investment. Previous corporate brands such as Degussa, Steag, and RAG Immobilien will no longer exist. The Chemicals, Energy, and Real Estate business areas now operate under the company name of Evonik.

Company information
Evonik Industries AG is the creative industrial group which operates in three highly profitable, promising business areas: Chemicals, Energy and Real Estate. Evonik is a global leader in specialty chemicals, an expert in power generation from hard coal and renewable energies, and one of the largest private residential real estate companies in Germany. Our strengths are creativity, specialization, continuous self-renewal, and reliability.

Evonik Industries is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2006 around 43,000 employees generated sales of Euro14.8 billion and operating Profit (EBIT) of over Euro1.2 billion. Evonik plans to enter the capital market in the first half of 2008.

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As of September 12, 2007, the RAG industrial group and mining group have their own separate Internet homepages.

The international industrial group is now called Evonik Industries AG and does business in chemicals, energy and real estate. The three former subgroups Degussa, Steag and RAG Immobilien have been united in a new company with modern structures. Evonik Industries AG is scheduled to go public in 2008.

The mining operations will be continued under the name RAG. 

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Evonik Industries AG's three business areas harbor vast potential for profitable growth. Our markets are specialty chemicals, power generation from coal and renewable energy, as well as residential property.

Leading in specialty chemicals

In its Chemicals Business Area, Evonik ranks among the global industry leaders. We operate production facilities in 30 countries, in the first half of 2007 employing a workforce of some 34,000, over half of it in Germany.
Evonik's Chemicals Business Area boasts a broad and attractive product portfolio. Our products and solutions are used almost everywhere, from automobiles, plastics and rubber to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, cosmetics, paint, sealants and adhesives industries. We are market leaders in over 80 percent of our chemical activities. And in line with our strong R&D focus, we generate some 20 percent of sales with products and technologies that are less than five years old.

Expertise in coal power and renewables

In its Energy Business Area, Evonik looks back on some 70 years' experience in coal-fired power generation, with capabilities spanning project development, financing, plant construction and operation. In Germany, we run eight power stations and are the country's fifth largest power generator. Nationally and internationally, we have some 9,000 megawatts in total installed output. We are a full-service provider, delivering total solutions with our combined engineering and consulting expertise. Customers in Germany and abroad benefit from the technical know-how of our approximately 4,600-strong workforce (as per June 2007). With the construction and operation of power stations in Turkey, Colombia and the Philippines, we have shown how professional project development can be successfully combined with tried and trusted financing and operating approaches.

Evonik is already hard at work meeting the energy supply needs of the future. Our Clean Competitive Electricity from Coal (CCEC) technology fulfils all that is required of an ultra-modern power plant: Its resource-saving design and 45 percent efficiency make it more frugal and economic, safer and more environment-friendly than conventional power stations. We are now using this technology to build a
power plant of the future' in Walsum, Germany. The other side of our business is renewable energy: biomass, biogas, geothermal and mine gas. We lead the German market with ten biomass power plants.

High-quality provider in the regional market

In its Real Estate Business Area, Evonik's 60,000-plus housing units put it in the big league of private residential property companies in Germany. With a geographical focus on the Ruhr region, Aachen and the northern Rhine cities of Düsseldorf, Cologne and Bonn, we provide homes to over 150,000 people?a demanding task which we fulfill with entrepreneurial efficiency and responsibility. A large part of our success is due to the fact that our vacancy rates and occupant turnover?the market's key performance indicators?are significantly better than the industry average. This is no accident. We attach great importance to carefully planned residential property utilization spanning the entire life cycle of a building. And we constantly adapt our portfolio to current needs, modernizing and refurbishing as necessary, tearing down where there is no other option, and building where it makes sense. Last but not least, we actively manage operating costs to keep ancillary costs paid by tenants predictable and reasonable.


2007/10/2 Evonik (Degussa)

Evonik to Increase Alkoxide Capacity
Investments in the Double-Digit Million Euro range

Green light for new investments: Evonik Industries AG will build an
alkoxide production facility at its Mobile, Alabama, site in the USA.
   アルコキシド:水と反応してその表面がアルコール基になる材料 RO? R は有機基)
     金属アルコキシドはアルコール分子の水酸基の水素を金属原子で置換した化合物
The plant, designed for a capacity of 60,000 metric tons, is expected to come on stream in early 2009 and will supply customers throughout the NAFTA region. A second facility in Brazil is scheduled to start operation the following year and will supply the entire South American continent. With these investments in the double-digit million euro range, Evonik is reinforcing its commitment to producing alternative forms of energy from renewable raw materials. Alkoxides are required as catalysts in biodiesel production, and Evonik's Chemicals business area is already the world market leader in specialty catalysts for this application.

With these facilities, we continue to pursue our strategy of strengthening our business in markets where we already occupy leading positions and expect long-term growth. In view of the intensive discussions concerning climate protection, we expect significant double-digit growth in the biodiesel market. This applies most particularly to the U.S., but also to the South American market,said Dr. Klaus Engel, member of the Evonik Management Board with responsibility for the Chemicals business area, explaining the investment. Brazil is South America's most attractive biodiesel market, and so the obvious location for construction of a production facility,added Dr. Thomas Haeberle, head of Evonik's Building Blocks Business Unit. The business unit currently operates a plant producing alkoxides at the Lulsdorf site near Cologne, Germany.

Mobile, with about 800 employees, is one of Evonik's largest sites outside of Germany and its largest site in North America. The company began building the production facility there in the mid-1970s. Seven of Evonik's 14 business units now operate facilities at the site, where a number of service units are also represented.

Biodiesel is produced from natural oils such as rapeseed or soy bean oil. The Evonik catalyst, a ready-to-use mixture of sodium methylate and methanol, helps convert the natural oils - in a chemical process known as transesterification - into fatty acid methyl esters, or biodiesel. The advantages of the Evonik catalyst are the consistently high yield and the purity of the crude glycerol that is obtained as a byproduct. As Haeberle said:
With our catalyst, we are making an important contribution to climate protection worldwide.


2007/12/17 Evonik

Evonik Sanzheng Joint Venture Builds Cyanuric Chloride Plant in China  塩化シアヌル
  
Euro 24 million investment in Chongqing secures strong market position

Evonik Industries is systematically consolidating its already strong position in the world market for cyanuric chloride, an intermediate used in agricultural applications and in the textile, paper and plastics industries. The cornerstone for a new plant was laid today in Chongqing Industrial Park, Western China, with the participation of representatives of the relevant Chinese regulatory authorities. Construction is scheduled for completion by the end of 2008. About 280 employees will work in the plant. With the construction of the new plant, the existing capacity in China will be doubled and will then reach 60,000 metric tons. Dr. Klaus Engel, a member of Evonik's Executive Board with responsibility for the Chemicals Business Area, said: This new plant of ours will strengthen our position in a highly competitive environment. From 2009 onward one of the focuses of our cyanuric chloride business will lie in the China region, with its dynamic growth. So it's particularly important for us to produce locally, and therefore be closer to the customer.

Responsibility for the project lies with the joint venture Degussa Sanzheng (Yingkou) Fine Chemicals Co., Ltd., which was established in Yingkou, Northeastern China, in mid-2005. Cyanuric chloride (CYC) and its derivatives have been produced there since the 1980s. Under the joint venture, the capacity was expanded to about 30,000 metric tons in Yingkou. Evonik has a 65 percent stake in the joint venture, the remainder being held by Liu Zhixun, principal stakeholder and Deputy General Manager of Degussa Sanzheng (Yingkou) Fine Chemicals (YSFC) in Northern China. YSFC is a well-known CYC producer with extensive market experience in China and Asia.

The approximately 650 employees of the joint venture generated sales of about ?46 million in 2006, mainly in the Asia region. With annual growth rates exceeding 7 percent, China is a particularly attractive market for CYC. In addition to the plant in Yingkou (Northeastern China), Evonik currently also produces cyanuric chloride at the German sites of Wesseling (North Rhine-Westphalia) and Munchsmunster (Bavaria).

The reasons for the choice of Chongqing Industrial Park, which lies in the western part of the country, are its excellent supply of raw materials and good industrial infrastructure. The project will involve intensive exchange of know-how between Chinese and German experts. Strict cost management and Chinese engineering will ensure that project investments will be kept relatively low. At the same time, safety will meet high Evonik standards.

The new production facility is the latest in a continuing series of major investments by Evonik Industries in China. The Group has been producing specialty chemical products there since the early 1990s, and trade ties of various kinds go back even further. The Group now owns 18 companies in China, with production sites in more than ten cities. The product range includes precipitated silica, carbon black, rubber silanes, amino acids, polyurethane foam additives, coating polyesters, pigment pastes, color tinting systems, high-performance polymers, and initiators for polymer production.
In fiscal 2006, about 4,000 employees in the China region generated sales of ?460 million, a 60 percent increase over the previous years sales of ?288 million.

Company information
Evonik Industries is the creative industrial group which operates in three highly profitable, promising business areas: Chemicals, Energy and Real Estate. Evonik is a global leader in specialty chemicals, an expert in power generation from hard coal and renewable energies, and one of the largest private residential real estate companies in Germany. Our strengths are creativity, specialization, continuous self-renewal, and reliability.

Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2006 around 43,000 employees generated sales of Euro 4.8 billion and an operating profit (EBIT) of over Euro1.2 billion. Evonik plans to enter the capital markets in the first half of 2008.