The value of innovation

Torsten Penkuhn, the managing director of BASF Polska, tells WBJ that as a result, his company will continue to invest in P

Konrad Kiedrzyński: How were your results for the first half of 2007?

Torsten Penkuhn: We are fully on track, increasing our share in the market. Globally, BASF has grown by 18 percent and by 14 percent in Europe. In Poland, organic growth has taken place at between 14-15 percent, excluding revenue stemming from the takeover of construction-chemicals company Degussa in July last year.

Are there any areas you feel need improvement?

One area is agrochemicals, which is a mature market here. Still, following the restructuring and consolidation processes that are taking place in the Polish agriculture industry, we expect this market to grow further too. All other areas such as chemicals or plastic are still emerging and have a strong growth basis.

What is your strategy for building BASF's position in the market?

Apart from rationalizing the cost of production, we value sustainable growth, giving particular attention to the environment. We make our knowledge and expertise in clean production available to our clients too. Thus our business model in other countries is not extractive only. This is why we would like to see a better dialog with non-governmental organizations and the government on the issue of innovation in energy savings. Anybody is welcome to cooperate with us in that area.

Will the EU's requirements for reducing CO2 in Poland affect your operations here?

We see it as a gigantic opportunity, since we can contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions by selling our technologies, such as catalyzers or insulation materials.

What are your current investment plans in Poland?

We need to complete the legal integration of our two new plants, BASF Construction Chemicals Polska in Poznań, and BASF Admixtures Polska in Myślenice, both of which we took over following the acquisition of Degussa. The next step is a creation of a small plant, closely tailored to the local market needs. More details on that will be given by the end of the year.

Have you considered investing in R&D in Poland?

Although we are not planning to create an R&D center as such, we see Poland as a part of an R&D network and we are actively seeking to enhance it, for example by the recruitment of people from the business and chemical engineering schools, whose quality we are very pleased with.

Do you plan any investments in biofuels in Poland ?

We would like to have a stronger foundation in biofuels here. However, the government's policy on that remains unclear, which discourages our customers from investing in this branch.

Is the shortage of labor in the local construction industry a threat for you?

Construction is the number-one segment of our activity. But I need the company to be adequately staffed and I am not concerned about having to raise salaries to keep people in. We are not here because of low labor costs but because of business opportunities.

Do you consider Polish political situation favorable for your activity here?

We feel we are all a part of the European Union, so we do not care about such things as recent rows going on in the German press. We are here because we believe that Poland will have the same success story as Spain, for example, and we are here to be a part of it.