Swiss Clariant expects the unexpected
According to a recent interview published in the Swiss financial paper Finanz & Wirtschaft, Clariant’s CEO, Hariolf Kottmann, confirms the set goals for 2012 amid a slowdown of the world economy
The confirmation of the set goals results mainly on the basis that important markets such as South East Asia (6 – 7 %) and Latin America are still expanding whereas South Europe is according to Kottmann “dead” and Germany is losing its dynamic. The American economy is growing only on the surface and Kottmann suggests that this will be the case up to the Presidential elections.
The customers have changed their order attitudes, they order smaller volumes and order more often, Kottmann considers this as a typical action in times of economic crisis. Asked if the situation is comparable to 2008, he states: “Our order books were empty all at once in 2008, today we have a high order intake in some business fields whereas in others the volume is decreasing markedly and we are below the levels of 2011. However, profitability is still satisfactorily. In other words business is developing as expected, we have divisions growing in double digits each month and others perform 15 to 20 % below last year’s level thus a mixture leading to the fact that we fulfil our planning estimates”.