The Hoechst group (D-65926 Frankfurt) appears to be moving closer to entering a strategic allicance in polyolefins in Western Europe. Speaking at the pre-"K '95" press conference, deputy chairman Dr. Günter Metz said Hoechst's goal is to be "number one or number two" in this market. With a current share of 7%, capacities total around 1m t/y. The Frankfurt group is number two in HDPE with a market share of 12%; in PP it is in fourth place. As it is clear that "we cannot achieve move forward on our own," Metz said "we are definitely interested in finding a partner." While confirming that talks are in progress, he declined to name potential partners, saying only that "you can figure out for yourselves that one is not Shell," Many industry observers believe the group's preference still extends to BASF.

Speaking at the same meeting, group plastics division head, Claudio Sonder, indicated that, along with looking for an alliance that will give Hoechst access to petrochemical feedstocks, a cooperation in metallocene technology appears interesting. Hoechst is one of the leaders in metallocene catalysts for PP, while BASF is strong in metallocene PE technology. Metz also confirmed that the Hoechst-Wacker Chemie 50:50 PVC joint venture, Vinnolit Kunststoff GmbH (Carl-Zeiss-Ring 25, D-85737 Ismaning), now number four in the European market with 535,000 t/y of capacity, also stands open to a third partner. He said the PVC jv is interested in moving more into specialities and is mulling new production facilities in Southeast Asia.

Hoechst's plastics and films division achieved a growth rate of 30% in H1 for the Hoechst plastics and films division, which, as Metz pointed out, was nearly five times the group upturn of 6.4%. Divisional sales are expected to exceed DM 4bn in 1995, despite a more or less pronounced summer lull. Earnings will substantially improve. Although giving no figures, the deputy chairman said the "most significant" increase will be for PP and HDPE.

A review of engineering plastics strategy is currently in progress at Hoechst and is expected to be completed by the end of 1995, according to the head of that business group, Bernd Sassenrath. Hoechst is the leading producer of polyester fibres, but a closer scrutiny of where it wants to be on the thermoplastics side is critical, particularly in light of plans by BASF and GE Plastics to build a new production facility at Schwarzheide. DuPont's decision to enter the European LCP market has not yet affected Hoechst's plans, said Sassenrath. Although tightness has eased in recent weeks, capacities for technical polymers still are being running flat out, the business group chief said.

READER SERVICE: Comprehensive press conference material "Hoechst as a partner in the polymer field", including speech by Dr. Günter Metz: PIE-No. 38184.