Evonik announced its intention to divest its Lülsdorf site in the medium term to focus on high-margin specialty chemicals.
Evonik
intends to divest its Lülsdorf site, south of Cologne, in the medium term, amid the regulatory phase-out of alkoxide production and in order to create prospects for the employees from an early stage. The aim of the company is to transfer the entire site to a new owner or to sale parts of the business to various interested parties.
Detailed plans for further development with investors and partners will be finalized by spring 2022 but various potential investors have already expressed interest in the chemical site, which is particularly suitable for the production of high-volume preliminary and intermediate products thanks to its location at the centre of the Western European chemical industry as well as excellent logistical links.
"Lülsdorf has proven to be a good location for basic chemicals for decades," said Christian Kullmann, chairman of the executive board at Evonik. "However, with our focus on high-margin specialty chemicals, further development of the site doesn’t make sense for us. We have therefore begun the search for new owners, who can best shape the future of the site. Lülsdorf has enormous potential as a site for chemical production."
At the moment, the site employs almost 600 people and mainly produces alkoxides, potassium derivatives and - in association with plants in neighboring Wesseling - cyanuric chlorides. The site and its businesses generate annual sales of around €280 million.
“The biggest asset is the efficient and experienced workforce that identifies so strongly with the site," said Thomas Wessel, Evonik's chief human resources officer. "It is also in the interests of these employees that we have started a process, which will carefully determine the site's best future owner(s). We will closely coordinate all further steps with the co-determination bodies."
The business at the Lülsdorf site belongs to the Functional Solutions business line, which is part of the Performance Materials division. Following the planned divestment of the superabsorbents business, the transfer of the site to a new owner is the next logical step in the alignment of Evonik's portfolio to specialty chemicals.
"It's good that we now have a fundamental, strategic decision on the further development of the location," said Arndt Selbach, head of Evonik's Wesseling and Lülsdorf sites. "In the interests of the employees, we will do everything we can to identify the specific development options for Lülsdorf as quickly as possible, in order to present a clear direction for the future of the site and its employees."