“Solvay in Action!” is the message conveyed by the Belgian chemical group in its 1999 Annual Report. The fact that Solvay SA (rue du Prince Albert 33, B-1050 Bruxelles) places great value on dynamism and innovation in its individual business units (and particularly in e-business of late) is borne out by a number of different factors. These include Solvay´s announcement at the “NPE” plastics fair in Chicago a few days ago that it was intending to participate in the “Omnexus” internet marketplace run by the five big plastics producers, BASF, Bayer, Dow, DuPont and Ticona. As a spokeswoman for the e-commerce consortium explained, Solvay´s product range would represent an outstanding addition to the online marketplace.

As far as conventional business is concerned, Solvay is able to report an 8% increase in sales in the plastics sector, to EUR 2.62 bn, for the 1999 financial year. The company has thus not yet reached its 1997 sales level again, of just below EUR 2.8 bn. In the course of 1999, the company´s market position for polypropylene in Europe rose from No. 8 to No. 6 (world ranking: No. 10) while the rank order for PE-HD (Europe: No. 4), PVC (No. 2) and plastics processing (plastic fuel tanks, pipes and fittings, and industrial film) remained unchanged.

While turnover from plastics rose, a 2% fall in the EBIT to EUR 200m (1998: EUR 205m) had to be accepted in 1999, although the second half of the year was particularly strong, according to Solvay. New strategic alliances and partnerships will be improving the cost structure in future and considerably reducing “cyclical factors”.

In the plastics processing sector, Solvay reports “remarkable growth” both in sales (up 4% to EUR 1.5 bn) and in the EBIT (up 11% to EUR 83m) in 1999.

• Plasteurope.com Service: 1999 Solvay Annual Report: PIE-No. 44725.