What have been the main developments at Croda in the past year?

2021 numbers for both manufacturing and exports were record-high at Croda Singapore in the last decade, showing that the specialty chemicals sector is still booming despite – or sometimes even because of – the pandemic. Croda’s business is spread out across different verticals which prevented us from experiencing the recession from the downturn in a single market. From Singapore, we supply significantly into personal care, a market that has been making a comeback as more people return to the office.

Over 60% of Croda’s products come from bio-based feedstocks. Could you elaborate on the demand for this portfolio?

Croda offers a wide-ranging portfolio of bio-based materials and oleochemicals with a palm oil base sourced from nearby Malaysia and Indonesia. The short distance to the source of the feedstock, but also the fact that our raw materials are RSPO certified, greatly improve our sustainability footprint. However, even if bio-based feedstocks provide an alternative to fossil fuels, the two are still connected and the rise in oil price ripples through oleochemicals, affecting palm oil prices too as demand builds up.

We are very proud of the high rate of 60% plus bio-based products, which gives us a clear competitive advantage against our peers in the market with synthetic or chemical products. But we still recognize the need to introduce new products and we have announced a new range of biopolymers and biosurfactants with improved properties – for instance, used in formulations used in laundry softener.

We work together with partners to push forward the sustainability movement by introducing a green focus into the petrochemical industry.

Could you elaborate on how is inflation playing down to the specialty sector?

During periods of heightened inflation, consumption patterns change dramatically for large goods. People tend to put off buying a car or a new house. However, spending on everyday goods and basic necessities goes on, simply because people still need to go about their normal lives and look after their hygiene. Therefore, while the automotive or construction sectors may suffer, other markets are resilient. With masks coming off and travel opening up, the beauty market is vibrant and it will deliver growth, even if inflation has increased the cost of buying.

What are the top markets of Croda in APAC?

Croda Singapore is the main manufacturing hub for Asia, products made here serving both China and Southeast Asia, where we note a heightened appetite to spend, together with growing purchasing power. Meanwhile, India is served by the manufacturing plant in the country. In terms of standout trends, personal care was a dominant sector for Croda Singapore. After receiving the EXCiPACT certification, we also deepened our presence in the pharmaceutical excipients space from our specialty chemical plant in Singapore. Healthcare is certainly a priority focus, and through sister sites, Croda supplies vaccine ingredients and topical formulations in the region.

Could you summarize Croda’s priorities in the coming years?

Our priority is to continue to push the barriers to innovation by bringing new chemistries into play. For instance, just before the pandemic kicked in, people were talking about sulfate-free formulations. As mentioned, we are also looking at new biopolymers replacing fossil fuels.

Do you have a final message?

The pandemic has seriously challenged global supply chain routes. It used to be the case that producers chose a manufacturing location based on which promised the lowest costs, but today, reliability becomes more important. At Croda, we also adhere to a general consideration of ‘in the region, for the region’ for production, not just as a means to build resilience, but also to shorten the carbon footprint associated with moving goods from one part of the world to the other. By transferring the know-how from the UK into the region, we also have an opportunity to bring in different chemistries that were typically locked to one area. For instance, for our polymers, we used to have just one plant in the UK, but we are now investing to increase this capacity in Singapore. The pandemic has pushed us, and many others in the industry, to move away from reliance on a single country and build multiple production sites and a diversified supply chain network.