Change of ownership: In 2011, Dow divested all of the Haltermann companies. The only affiliate that retains the name is Haltermann in Germany. The former Dow Haltermann subsidiary in Antwerp is now trading as Monument Chemicals. Dow Haltermann Custom Processing UK has become an independent company following a management buy-out of Dow Chemical's Custom Processing facilities at Middlesbrough and Billingham. With the new independence, the business has reverted to the previous identity of Chemoxy, which had been abandoned in 2001 when the business had been named Haltermann. The new Chemoxy provides custom manufacturing services to petrochemical and specialty chemical companies as well as to companies with niche applications. Michael Reubold spoke with Chemoxy's CEO, Ian Stark, about the legacy and the future of the company.

CHEManager Europe: Chemoxy is a specialty chemicals manufacturer with over 100 years of operating experience, but the name may not sound familiar to many of our readers. Who is Chemoxy?

Ian Stark: The last time the Chemoxy name was used was about 12 years ago, but it had a lot of brand equity in those days. We were with Dow Chemical for 10 years trading as Dow Haltermann Custom Processing. Following the change of ownership on January 1, 2012 we decided to go back to the old name of Chemoxy. We serve a diverse range of industries from pharmaceutical, electronic and flavor & fragrance through to oil drilling, fuel additives and industrial solvent users. In addition, the company manufactures a range of environmentally friendly solvents, which are used in paints and cleaning products. We employ about a hundred people and we have sales of around €45 million, a large proportion of which are exports sales.

How is the company organized, what are your key areas?

Ian Stark: We have three platforms: Custom Processing, Chemoxy Products and Solvent Recovery. In Custom Processing, we are working for a global customer base, but the majority of our client base is continental European.

The second platform, which we are very excited about, contains our own niche products. Here we are seeing some substantive growth, which is being led by emission legislation for low-VOC solvents. With our products Estasol low-VOC solvent and Coasol low-odour coalescing agent, we have a very strong presence in the paint and coatings industry where companies are looking to reduce the amount of volatile organic compounds in their formulations.

And the third platform is solvent recycling. We take in solvent streams from the UK, from Ireland and from continental Europe and we recycle quite a lot of solvents from the pharmaceutical and electronics industry.

You talked about growth. What are your growth expectations for these platforms?

Ian Stark: We are experiencing a growth in custom manufacturing requirements and recycling activities and demand has also grown for our low-VOC solvents, which comply with the latest low emission regulations in several European countries. We have launched a new product called Coasol 290, which is a coalescing solvent for latex paints. It has got high efficacy and it is one of the first products that meets all of the legislative emission standards.

Where are Chemoxy's production sites?

Ian Stark: The Custom Processing business operates two sites in Teesside in the UK with a capability to process volumes from tonnes to kilotons. The Middlesbrough site has been carrying out distillation since 1868 and the Billingham site was added to the portfolio in 1994. Key technologies include esterification, high-resolution distillation, batch and continuous reactions, methyl chloride chemistry and hydrogenation.

Looking back at the company's past decade: after becoming an independent company in January, what are your thoughts about the time as an affiliate of Dow?

Ian Stark: I was very proud that we were with Dow for 10 years and we are determined to keep all of the health and safety excellence and the plant compliance we learnt from Dow. Chemoxy has a long established reputation for technical excellence, confidentiality and EH&S compliance. But we can be more agile now as a small company. With that agility we are able to respond to our customer needs more quickly.

More agile and more flexible?

Ian Stark: Absolutely. This year we invest about €1 million on plant expansion, and we have completed the first phase of a 20% capacity increase by bringing back on line two reactors which were idled in 2009. So, these are exciting times and our plants are running at high utilization, at 80+%, and that is why we are expanding, because we need some spare capacity. We are well advanced in the design of a further capacity expansion which is expected to come on line in the fourth quarter of 2012.

What is your strategy or vision for the next five years?

Ian Stark: Our strategy on custom processing is to continue to focus on combined reaction distillation where we have some strength. And we also have some unique capabilities on methyl chloride handling for capping projects et cetera. We are planning to expand further and we have a vision to put a brand-new €7 million investment on our plant in the 2014 timeframe.

Our strategy on own products is to come up with environmentally friendly solvents. We are looking at high-boiling solvents, but we are also launching a range of naturally solvents based on oleochemicals. And we are already evaluating new bio-derived raw materials like citric acid that are going to come from bio-processes.

So we are talking green chemistry ... are those environmentally friendly or bio-derived products required by your customers?

Ian Stark: Green chemistry, yes. Our customers are using a lot more of our solvents, because methylene chloride is being phased out in favor of more environmentally friendly products. But green solvents still have to perform. People won't buy a product just because it is green. It does need to be green, have efficacy, be able to perform, and it also has to be cost-efficient. And customers won't pay a huge premium just because it is green. Our desire is to find cost-effective bio feedstocks. And the prices are coming down all the time. So, I think there is going to be a lot of new bio products coming out, and we are going to look at making the derivatives.

In recent years, there has been a lot of change in the UK chemical industry landscape, including the set-up of the new Chemoxy. How would you describe the chemical sector in the UK today?

Ian Stark: Generally, I think speed, flexibility and creativity are the great attributes of the UK chemical industry. There are a lot of small and medium-sized companies that have tremendous flexibility. The chemical industry is one of the biggest contributors to export sales and it is one of the few manufacturing sectors that have a positive balance of payment in the UK.