OUT INTO THE WORLD

STRATEGY

TALKE REPORTS A “significant increase in global sales” in 2022 compared to 2021 and that it is “satisfied” with the result, which was achieved in the face of significant global uncertainties. In particular, its growth in overseas business exceeded its expectations and made a positive contribution to the group’s earnings. Conversely, Talke sees challenges for its home market in Germany as a result of the energy crisis in Europe and the impact it has had on the chemical industry.

Talke marked its 75th anniversary in 2022 and took that opportunity to undertake a critical review of its operations, as well as its mission statement and strategy. The company has now defined ‘responsibility’ as one of the key pillars of its strategy, alongside ‘customer centricity’ and ‘problem-solving expertise’, and has confirmed that change with the assignment of dedicated management resources.

Talke’s sustainability framework, ‘Crafting Responsible Logistics’, covers four areas of action, which the company is progressively fleshing out and implementing. The company has also forged ahead with its digitalisation initiatives and has introduced real-time tracking in the transport area and automated processes through various SAP extensions.

Trouble At Home

Like many other companies, especially in the chemical industry, Talke finds itself in a challenging economic environment in its domestic market. As a partner of the largest companies in the chemical industry, Talke is affected by their negative development and relocation decisions. Consequently, Talke’s business in Germany has experienced very inconsistent growth. While some locations and business segments have shown resilience, others have been impacted by, in some cases, significant declines in volume. Businesses involved in basic chemicals and the automotive sector in particular were unable to buck the overall industry trend. In contrast, growth was experienced in parts of the specialty chemicals and consumer chemicals sectors in defiance of the general trend. For example, Talke has won important new customers in the battery chemicals sector and expanded its on-site logistics business. However, Talke’s German operations failed to meet overall expectations and, to address this, the company has now launched a performance programme. This includes increasing process efficiency, further expanding sales activities, and better integrating individual solutions for greater customer focus. Talke is also exploring new approaches to the structure of its Transport

Division, which will, among other things, include increasing the use of intermodal transport operations.

Leveraging Expertise

Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that much of Talke’s focus is currently on expansion and investment in other parts of the world. It has, for example, already expanded its presence in Spain, via the Global-Talke joint venture, with the opening of the first phase of a new logistics centre on a 40,000-m2 site in Tarragona. In addition, Global-Talke has recently taken over a tank cleaning facility in Zaragoza, which will both increase the regional tank cleaning capacity and, Talke says, improve the quality of service.

That investment also provides a pointer to where Talke is looking to expand its service offering and it says it sees “great market potential worldwide” for its services in the planning, engineering, procurement and construction of logistics facilities. To that end, it plans to develop a new global ‘Engineering Solutions & Projects’ division to bring together its international expertise and apply it locally, tailored to the specific needs of each customer.

Talke has already completed one project in this area, designing and constructing a logistics facility for polypropylene pellets in Poland. The project included the construction of 60 silos and integrated packaging systems, which form the core of the facility.

Similarly, Talke has completed its chemical hub in Dubai, which includes a fully automated filling line connected directly to the hazardous materials warehouse. It has now decided to go ahead with construction of a second multiuser logistics centre on a 300,000-m2 site at the Jubail Commercial Port in Saudi Arabia. The new distribution centre will be used by the surrounding industry and offers a comprehensive, integrated range of services.

Elsewhere In The World

Talke has had a subsidiary in the US since 2016 but last year operations in the country took a big leap forward with the opening of a new Business & Transportation Centre in Mont Belvieu, near Houston, Texas. This branch serves as the base of operations for a fleet of more than 100 trucks and equipment, and also as the new administrative headquarters of Talke in the US, where it now employs some 400 people.

Talke is also expanding in the Asia-Pacific region and is currently building a new chemical logistics centre in Port Klang, Malaysia’s largest port. The facility was designed and is being built in accordance with the latest sustainability standards and meets the ‘Silver’ level of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification process developed by the US Green Building Council. The hazardous materials warehouse is scheduled to begin operations in the next few months.

The Port Klang logistics centre, which is located in a strategically advantageous position to act as a hub for Asia-Pacific operations, is regarded by Talke as offering great potential for the development of an integrated facility for the handling of polymers and liquid chemicals. It is convinced that the region will be of strategic importance to many customers in the chemical and petrochemical industries in the future. Moreover, it regards its commitment in Malaysia as a launch pad for further investments and developments in the wider region.

Summing up Talke’s current position, Alfred Talke, managing partner of the firm, says: “2022 was a turbulent year, in which the global uncertainties impacted different regions to varying extents. With our business activities around the world, we have shown that we are well prepared for the future.

“We continue to see challenges for our business in the domestic market, but also many opportunities due to the changes in the market,” he continues. “We are addressing these challenges with our performance programme, which will help us to further expand our business on a sound footing.” www.talke.com