What are Arkema’s main priorities at this time?

Since the creation of Arkema in 2004, we have been maintaining a strong focus on high-performance materials. In line with this strategy, our top management has announced this year that Arkema will become a 100% specialty chemicals player by 2024. To do so, we shall continue our organic growth, while also pursuing targeted divestments and acquisitions. Core to our strategy is our motto of “Innovative Chemistry” which complements our efforts towards commercial and operational excellence. Another key priority is to sustain a balanced geographical exposure. Today, our business is split equally between the EMEA, the Americas and Asia; each broad region represents a third of total revenues. In alignment with this priority, we continue to engage in a very transparent dialogue with stakeholders, starting from our employees to government agencies and to the communities we base in.

Could you give us a better understanding of Arkema’s presence and focus in Asia?

We began our investments in the continent with Japan and China has absorbed a great deal of our investments over the years. In Southeast Asia, we started our industrial footprints with Malaysia through the acquisition of Cray Valley Specialty Resin, followed by the investment in the manufacturing of bio-methionine and thiochemicals. We then further established our regional presence through the acquisition of Bostik. Today, we look to expand these facilities and monitor emerging M&A opportunities.

Arkema chose Singapore as the base for its investment in a bio-based polyamide plant. Could you tell us more about the significance of this investment?

This is an important milestone on many fronts. First, it marks one of the very first green bonds issued by a chemical company. For a total amount of €300 million and an annual coupon of 0.125%, this green bond is fully dedicated to finance this project to manufacture 100% bio-based polyamide. The placement was oversubscribed by 10 times, which shows the enthusiasm from the financial community. Despite the constraints brought on by the pandemic, the project is on track to come on stream in 2022. Before we decided to invest in Singapore, Arkema studied various options. Though we recognize Singapore is a high-cost base for industrial production, we also understood the unbeatable advantages that it brings: a strong talent pool that aligns well with our innovation focus, an excellent logistics center that facilitates the imports of raw materials, and one of the most open economies in the world for import-export.

How is the Singapore bio-based polyamide project adding to Arkema’s sustainability goals, and other CSR aspects are a top focus for the company?

The investment in Singapore is in 100% bio-based high-performance polymers, boosting our capacity by 50%, while also tying us to very stringent sustainability criteria since it is funded through green bonds. This material, which is lightweight and durable, can be used to replace metal and rubber and will help our customers making their products more sustainable.

We believe we can play a major role in sustainability and we work on various indicators in terms of climate, gender diversity and safety. Between 2012 and 2019, we have reduced our absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 37%, and we target to reduce these from 6.5 to 2.95 million tons by 2030. We also reduced our volatile organic chemicals emissions by 40% compared to 2012. Our 2030 target is to reduce our VOC emissions by 65% compared to 2012; to increase the number of women in senior roles from 17% to 23%-25% by 2025 and to reduce our total recordable injury rate to below 1.2 by 2025, which will consolidate our performance as among the best in our sector. Alongside an ambitious growth strategy, we insist on setting new targets regarding our safety and sustainability.

As a testimony to our commitment, we have been ranked by the Wall Street Journal amongst the top 100 most sustainably managed companies in the world, and number one in the chemicals industry, and we were recently included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index too. We seek to be the best in class for our CSR and ESG performance.

What are the key areas of focus driving Arkema’s innovation?

Arkema focuses on six major platforms: bio-based products, new energies, water treatment, electronic solutions, lightweight materials, and home efficiency & insulation. Based on last year’s figures, Arkema invested 2.8% of its sales into R&D. We rely on 1,600 researchers around the world. In 2019 alone, we filed 222 patents. From 2012 to 2018, we were ranked amongst the top 100 innovators worldwide. In Singapore, we enjoy a strong collaboration with the Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore, which are two of the best in the world.