TESSENDERLO
Losses on PVC production in 2003 / Profile output to be expanded in Europe
Belgian chemicals conglomerate Tessenderlo (B-1050 Brussels; www.tessenderlo.com) reported a 2% sales increase for 2003 to EUR 1.97 bn. The company is active along the entire vinyls production chain, from vinyl chloride monomer starting material to finished pipes and profiles. While sales in the resins segment PVC & Compounds, represented by Limburgse Vinyl Maatschappij (LVM, B-3980 Tessenderlo; www.lvm.be), improved by 14% to EUR 341m, the company´s EBITDA plunged to a negative EUR 2m from a positive EUR 15m. For the third time in succession, LVM reported a “disappointing year.” The losses are blamed on strong margin pressure and losses in PVC compounds for shoes. With this result, Europe´s number six in the PVC production segment with a capacity of 550,000 t/y of VCM and 450,000 t/y of PVC joined the ranks of its competitors, which have produced equally dismal figures recently.
Tessenderlo´s plastics processing division with its focus on pipe and profile production, however, provides reason for optimism. In this segment, sales rose to EUR 523m with a solid pretax profit of EUR 88m. In the pipe segment, spearheaded by Dyka Plastics (B-3900 Overpelt; www.dyka.com), business in the UK and Poland compensated for weak demand in the Benelux countries and results were further improved by cost reductions. The profiles segment yielded good results in all geographic markets, but mainly in the UK and eastern Europe.
According to British market research specialist Applied Market Information (AMI, GB-Bristol; www.amiplastics.com), the company with 11 location worldwide ranks sixth in the European market. The profiles business is managed by Wymar International (B-8720 Oeselgem; www.wymar.com), acquired by Tessenderlo in 1995, which has production facilities in Belgium and France (Profex, Plastival).
The company´s production capacity, clearly below 60,000 t/y, is currently expanding. In Belgium, a new line started up in 2003 and the first 70mm profiles were delivered in mid- January 2004. Eurocell Profiles (GB-Alfreton; www.eurocell.co.uk), acquired in 1998, is currently investing GBP 4m (EUR 6m) to add a new production hall to its facilities. Over the past three years, this company has posted double-digit growth rates. Plastival recently acquired the PVC profiles and window systems business of another French company, Acome (F-50140 Mortain; www.acome.fr), which has a production capacity of around 10,000 t/y.
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Tessenderlo presentation (company profile) as PDF document (2,346 KB)
Tessenderlo´s plastics processing division with its focus on pipe and profile production, however, provides reason for optimism. In this segment, sales rose to EUR 523m with a solid pretax profit of EUR 88m. In the pipe segment, spearheaded by Dyka Plastics (B-3900 Overpelt; www.dyka.com), business in the UK and Poland compensated for weak demand in the Benelux countries and results were further improved by cost reductions. The profiles segment yielded good results in all geographic markets, but mainly in the UK and eastern Europe.
According to British market research specialist Applied Market Information (AMI, GB-Bristol; www.amiplastics.com), the company with 11 location worldwide ranks sixth in the European market. The profiles business is managed by Wymar International (B-8720 Oeselgem; www.wymar.com), acquired by Tessenderlo in 1995, which has production facilities in Belgium and France (Profex, Plastival).
The company´s production capacity, clearly below 60,000 t/y, is currently expanding. In Belgium, a new line started up in 2003 and the first 70mm profiles were delivered in mid- January 2004. Eurocell Profiles (GB-Alfreton; www.eurocell.co.uk), acquired in 1998, is currently investing GBP 4m (EUR 6m) to add a new production hall to its facilities. Over the past three years, this company has posted double-digit growth rates. Plastival recently acquired the PVC profiles and window systems business of another French company, Acome (F-50140 Mortain; www.acome.fr), which has a production capacity of around 10,000 t/y.
• e-Service:
Tessenderlo presentation (company profile) as PDF document (2,346 KB)
29.04.2004 Plasteurope.com [13155]
Published on 29.04.2004