Investment Future - When the former chemical giant Hoechst sold off its chemical division 13 years ago, it was also a momentous turning point for the Knapsack site. Today, after a transitional period, the chemical park in Huerth, Germany is in a steady upswing. In addition, more than €1.2 billion have been invested. CHEManager Europe spoke with Pierre Kramer, Head of Site Development at Infraserv Knapsack, about the competition and his ideas for the future.

CHEManager Europe: There are over 10 chemical parks vying for business in a radius of just 100 kilometers from the Knapsack site. What makes Knapsack stand out for foreign investors?

P. Kramer: We have exceptionally good power facilities at our disposal here in the chemical park. Three different energy suppliers, including Eon, with whom we operate a refuse derived fuel power plant, produce electricity and process steam. Therefore, we can offer low prices, flexible volumes and exceptionally high availability. This assurance is important and sometimes extremely crucial for companies in the process industry.

Is it really enough?

P. Kramer: Actually, it's not. That's why we developed the "Plug and Play" concept, whereby our customers can concentrate completely on their production. We put our entire infrastructure at their disposal as well as the services of the concessions, engineering and maintenance units.

The chemical park in Huerth is not one of the largest sites. How does this affect business?

P. Kramer: In the day-to-day business people still meet other people here and often, they have known each other for years. The alliance between the 28 companies here on-site and with us is markedly cooperative. Companies settling here can take advantage of the raw materials network and profit from the experience of the companies on site, too.

Competition between the chemical parks is escalating. Is increased utilization actually realistic?

P. Kramer: Absolutely. Although fewer projects are being launched, real industrial properties remain in short supply. Here at Knapsack, we can help to establish new projects up to 40 hectares at short notice and also rapidly initiate the necessary public authority approval process. The actual start of construction of a plant expansion for crop protection products, for instance, was reduced by four months - a real economic advantage.

Where might your future new investors come from?

P. Kramer: Whoever wants to develop their site has to be open. We are therefore not only looking at the European markets, but also at markets overseas. Investors from India, for example, don't know anything about the chemical park concept. It's our job to explain the advantages of our site to them. India has an enormous consumer market, but they also have know-how issues. So why shouldn't successful Indian companies build specific plants in Germany for the short-term since labor costs play a lesser role regarding production. It should also be made clear that we want to offer companies on our site the best conditions for investing in expansion.

The trend is moving towards specialty chemicals. How are you facing this development?

P. Kramer: In the long term we are thinking about key technologies setting up here, such as industrial biotechnologies. We are definitely ready for them and three important production requirements are immediately available, namely, a solid infrastructure, direct supply of raw materials and excellent process know-how.