chemical

The German chemical and pharmaceutical company has picked Barcelona to provide shared services to its subsidiaries in Greece, Turkey and Latin America, which account for 25% of the total group sales. Bayer’s Shared Service Centre in the Catalan capital will expand its tasks and responsibilities by taking over the accounting, controlling and IT services for these geographical areas. The expansion will take place over 2014 and the centre will pass from being in charge of 11 countries to 22, managing over 50 Bayer subsidiaries. The General Manager of Barcelona’s Centre, Erik Schonebeck, stated the project would “consolidate” the 300 existing jobs in the Catalan capital but no further new jobs would be created in the short-run. Barcelona hosts one of Bayer’s 5 global headquarters.

The Catalan pharmaceutical company Grífols, based in Greater Barcelona, has bought part of the diagnostics unit of Swiss multinational Novartis for $1,675 million. Grífols has acquired products and ‘in vitro’ technology applied to diagnoses in the fields of blood transfusion and immunology, along with a production plant in California and offices in the US, Switzerland and Hong Kong. With the acquisition, the Grífols Diagnostic Division will represent $1 billion, 20% of the Catalan group’s total revenues. Grífols is the world’s third largest company in the production of blood-plasma derivatives. In the first half of 2013, Grífols registered a profit of €182.2 million, an increase of 36.9% on the same period of 2012.

Catalan companies exported goods and services worth €5.05 billion in April, which represents a 13.4% growth compared to the same month of 2012. In the first four months of 2013, Catalonia exported €19.17 billion, a 1% increase compared to the same period of the previous year. Looking at figures for the whole of Spain, exports reached €29.40 billion in April, an 18.6% increase compared to figures from April 2012. Regarding the volume of exports reached in the first four months of 2013, Spain exported 76.98 billion, a 7.5% increase compared to the same period last year. The chemical sector led Catalan exports, followed by capital goods and cars.

The Port of Tarragona moved 33 million tonnes of goods in 2012, slowly recovering the goods volume it had before the economic crisis. However it has not yet reached the 36 million tonnes it received in 2007. Tarragona is the second largest Catalan harbour and it is the fourth port with the most activity in Spain. It mostly specialises in bulk transport of solids and liquids, mostly cereal and petrochemical products. Furthermore, last year it enlarged its chemicals dock, reclaiming 18 hectares from the sea. The companies Vopak Terquimsa and CLH have confirmed they will operate from the enlarged dock. In addition, the port wants to attract cruisers and US military ships in the years to come.

Tarragona’s intermodal freight station is located within the Bayer factory and it will serve all the companies located in the southern half of the chemical centre. Tarragona is host to Spain’s largest chemical hub, which will be connected by international-standard width railway to Central and Northern Europe once the Spanish Government has built the stretch between this economic centre and Greater Barcelona. This stretch is part of the strategic Mediterranean Railway Corridor, which the Spanish Government has been delaying for years. This main infrastructure will combine a high-speed passenger railway with goods transportation. Once completed, it will connect Gibraltar with Northern Europe via Spain’s Mediterranean ports and industrial centres, including València, Tarragona and Barcelona.

The chemical industries based in Tarragona, such as BASF, Dow Chemical and Repsol, expect their turnover to increase by 4% in 2012 compared to a year ago. In 2011, they exported 60% of their production, while in 2000 they were only exporting 30% of it. Furthermore, they have requested transport infrastructures to be improved and criticised the increase in energy taxes. About Catalonia’s hypothetical independence, they stated they “will respect what will be decided and will adapt to it”. These companies represent around 7% of Catalonia’s GDP.

The multinational chemical company explains that they would invest more money if the Mediterranean Railway Corridor were already a reality. This infrastructure is being delayed by the Spanish Government and it would enable the transportation of freight on international standard width railway from Catalan ports to Central Europe, and vice versa.

The logistics company might invest €40 million in the next two years. Since the late 1990s, the Belgian company has had a large warehouse in Constantí, next to Tarragona, in which €60 million has already been invested. In the last number of years, the company has invested an additional €10 million to build the new terminal. The new facilities demonstrate Katoen Natie commitment to operate from Tarragona, near Spain’s main chemical pole, railways, highways, an airport, and an important sea port.

Catalonia’s exports during last January and February had a total value of €9.24 billion. Catalan imports increased by 0.24% in the same period and have, registering in those two months a total value of €11.22 billion. The European Union received 64.28% of Catalonia’s exports. However, exports to markets such as Switzerland and Russia increased by 69% and 40% respectively.

American multinational Dow Chemical has chosen La Canonja (a town just 10 kilometers away from Tarragona) to locate a new pioneer water technology centre. The Global Water Technology Development Center has cost more than 10 million euros.

The world’s leader chemical company is planning to invest 12 million euros in its Tarragona plant, the largest one in southern Europe. BASF Spain has its headquarters in Tarragona, and concentrates most of its plants and offices in Catalonia.

The German chemical company will concentrate its production in Madrid and Guadalajara. BASF will also restructure its sales, marketing and administrations departments, also located close to Barcelona, in l’Hospitalet de Llobregat.

The multinational chemical company, with a strong presence in Catalonia, increases sales in Spain in the first quarter of 2010 despite the effects of the economic crisis in the construction and automobile sectors.