ChemCom Industries invests in a new production facility for high performance fertilizers at Delfzijl, The Netherlands

ChemCom Industries B.V., located at Oosterhorn in Farmsum (the Netherlands) and part of the chemical cluster Eemsdelta, invests €4.2m in a new production facility for the production of a raw material for high performance fertilizers. The heart of the installation is a continuous granulator.

ChemCom Industries is the independent Dutch part of the former Finnish Dynea group. Since it became independent in September 2012, the company has adopted a new vision and strategy. This strategy is structured around five elements:

1. Continue and expand present business;
2. Develop new local business with existing infrastructure;
3. Form strategic alliances to develop a new green product portfolio;
4. Integrate in/with local Delfzijl industry;
5. Work lean and strive for cost price leadership.

“Our current business forms a foundation for the future of the company. It provides financial resources and the time required to develop and implement new projects. The company will be actively seeking partnerships – some international – to develop new, preferably green, chemical businesses. We believe cooperation and sharing are essential values in business relationships. In order to realise our plans we are looking for companies and partners who share our values and echo our vision. We will form symbiotic alliances where we share risks, investments, costs and benefits. Our competence in chemical industry and our new methodology are highly appreciated by our strategic partners”, says General Manager, Roeland Kiewiet.

The company has a strategic plan, “Glance to the future”, with 13 projects. This plan aims to secure the continuity of the Delfzijl operations and to realise future growth and employment. The investment announced today is the 5th project that the new owners have implemented since acquiring the site. The Delfzijl company will produce an intermediate that is used by the Swiss family-owned company Hauert HBG Dünger AG (www.hauert.com)  for high performance fertilizer products. Roeland Kiewiet: “We are very glad to have developed this strategic cooperation with Hauert. Together with them and a German technology partner we succeeded in developing a new concept for a product that Hauert needs. This is the first main project of our list of thirteen projects. The first four projects were mainly investments in our current infrastructure. Last year we built a chemical storage tank farm allowing more flexibility towards customer demands. In this way we were able to expand our current product portfolio with new product-customer-combinations. These were the first concrete steps towards our future.”

In the Commission Willems report, ChemCom Industries is listed as a promising company within the chemical cluster Eemsdelta. The Province of Groningen supports the company with a subsidy of over €800,000 from the Regional Investment fund Groningen (RIG 2014). “The fact that the Province of Groningen supports the project financially was one of the decisive factors for Hauert to choose us. The cooperation has been agreed for the long-term, with an initial period of 10 years. We are very grateful to Hauert for their trust in us”, says Roeland Kiewiet.

An important aspect is the set of necessary operating permits. Roeland Kiewiet: “The contact with the coordinating issuer of permits, the Province of Groningen, is good. The regulation for the chemical industry in the Netherlands is complex and stringent. The latter with good reason. It is about safety and minimising environmental effects and risks. It is wonderful that the Province of Groningen and its regional support group (ODG) is thinking and working closely with us. Together we can make sure that the permit application and approval process is well embedded within the overall project planning.”

In September of this year the production begins on the new installation. This project will not lead to additional employment at the company, but will help to secure the existing employment. The company is in consultation with local partners to provide logistics services.

Source: Groningen Seaports 2015