EPCA CEO Caroline Ciuciu speaks to HCB

REFLECTIONS ON UNCERTAINTY

EPCA HAS HAD TO RESPOND TO THE CURRENT CRISIS JUST LIKE ITS MEMBERS. CEO CAROLINE CIUCIU EXPLAINS WHAT THAT HAS MEANT FOR THE ASSOCIATION

This year has been one of great and unprecedented challenges for the European petrochemical and chemical industry and for its logistics service partners. It has also been a great challenge for the European Petrochemical Association (EPCA) but one that CEO Caroline Ciuciu says has tested the strengths of the organisation and found them healthy.

EPCA’s Annual Meeting is among the largest gatherings of the petrochemical industry worldwide and is a much-anticipated event for executives and senior managers from across the sector. As Caroline Ciuciu says, EPCA’s Board of Directors made a smart decision to move this year’s event to a virtual format.

“This special edition will not be the same, by nature,” Ciuciu says, “but with the support of technology it will be no different in nurturing the community spirit as well as strengthening our understanding of the political, economic, and social trends shaping our future. This year’s event should enable us all to, for a moment, step out of the hectic crisis mode, reconnect with each other, and together embark on a smarter and inspirational pursuit of the way forward. This combination of elevated insights and shared purpose is what the industry needs, more than ever, this year,” she points out.

“Industry endured in a remarkable way and has actively contributed to the battle against Covid-19 and to the mitigation of its effects on our health system and society. This is something that we need to celebrate at this year’s Annual Meeting,” Ciuciu adds. “Building on the remarkable responsiveness and resilience the petrochemical industry has demonstrated over the last eight months, we wish to take our members ‘Beyond the New Normal’.”

The crisis is a good time to show leadership and, Ciuciu says, it is a testimony to the leadership of the global petrochemical industry that it has met the pandemic with a quick and smart response. Leadership is also critical in the recovery. “That is why we invited the CEOs of major global players to share their perspective on the future and how they envisage the sector’s leadership in the global economic recovery and what a smart-re-emergence could look like.”

“Sustainability and the circular economy are high on their agenda,” she highlights.

“Companies continue to develop new technologies in the area of circularity, especially in chemical recycling, and take their share towards the low-carbon economy.”

The same can be said of the EU, with the Green Deal high on its agenda, and industry is already responding. “The industry is willing to play its part. The petrochemical sector can make a tremendous impact, due to the widespread application of its products. Companies are setting and implementing ambitious agendas for circularity and sustainability,” Ciuciu points out.

And there will be more challenges on the Annual Meeting agenda. “We will turn to China’s post-pandemic experience, with a focus on energy transformation and the recently boosted climate change ambitions of the Chinese leadership,” Ciuciu outlines. “We will also explore the complex geopolitical developments in global trade.”

EPCA is staying focused on digital transformation as an enabler of both smart and sustainable future. “Our supply chain demonstrated incredible resilience. We should use this to build a momentum for further innovation. We are embracing digital innovation as a booster for growth, competitiveness and sustainability,” says Ciuciu. The latest development is the creation of the Digital Advisory Body under the Supply Chain Programme Committee, a group of seasoned and savvy digital trend watchers, taking an in-depth look at the tools necessary for the sector’s digital advancement.

“We are bringing in digital ambassadors to bring outsider perspective, take a sharp assessment within the industry and work, together with the network, on bold new ideas for a digital future,” she explains. “We want them to challenge us!”

Ciuciu hopes that this year’s virtual event experience will boost EPCA’s plans for a wider digital presence throughout the year, something that has already been in the works since 2019. “The reflection that we conducted with the Board of Directors last year certainly enabled us to quickly transfer the event online,” Ciuciu says.

Inspired by the ways in which its members have deployed new technologies to create digital twins of their operations, the EPCA Board of Directors took the strategic decision to develop new digital tools to keep member companies informed throughout the year. As a result, EPCA has been working with a design studio to develop tools to help its community stay connected. A new community app, which has just been rolled out, will not only offer full information about the Annual Meeting and a directory through which members can exchange details, but will also provide a platform for sharing stories and experiences and maintaining contacts within the network.

“We are also asking the community to upload their stories on a series of crucial topics for our sector – the circular economy, sustainability, the Covid-19 fight and reemergence, for instance – and the first stories are coming in,” Ciuciu says. “The idea is to use the app to allow our members to share their stories all year round, not just during the Annual Meeting.”

Before the 2021 Annual Meeting, though, EPCA’s website and online communications will be revamped to be made more userfriendly. To help in this project, EPCA has hired Dragan Stojanovski as its new marketing and digital communications manager, representing another step in EPCA’s transformation journey, rejuvenating its team with new skills and ideas. That journey mirrors those of many of its members, who are also re-tooling with the personnel needed to take on the future business environment.

The innovative digital tools that will be rolled out in the coming months will strengthen the organisation’s unique role. “EPCA is a unique international platform for the sector in Europe. We hope to be able to hold a physical Annual Meeting in 2021,” Ciuciu says, “but we may move to a hybrid event, with both in-person and virtual activities.” Decisions on this will be taken after this year’s Annual Meeting, once members’ experiences of a fully virtual event can be gauged. “Stay connected – more news coming soon!” Ciuciu concludes.

BEYOND THE NEW NORMAL

On 5 October, the first of three days of this year’s 54th EPCA Annual Meeting, the C-Suite Leadership Forum, chaired by EPCA president Marc Shuller, COO of Arkema, will bring together four leading executives to discuss how to navigate towards the future through the Covid-19 crisis, volatility in the oil and gas markets and the need to address climate change and circular economy initiatives. Which strategies and interventions will be necessary and efficient in the medium to long term? How will the petrochemical industry strike a new balance to master the project pipeline for growth and carbon management?

These and other questions will be discussed by Martin Brudermüller, chairman of the board and chief technology officer of BASF, Jim Fitterling, chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical, Thomas Casparie, executive vice-president of Shell Chemicals, and Bernard Pinatel, president of Total Refining and Chemicals.

Discussions on the second day will turn to supply chain and logistics issues, discussed by Dirk Verstraeten in the following article.

As ever, EPCA has chosen an external speaker to close the Annual Meeting and on 7 October Professor Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research, will provide his perspective. This will be timely, as China has already emerged into a postCovid world and it is a key territory for the global petrochemical and chemical industry, both as a producing and consuming nation. He will look at how China is aiming to combine a durable economic recovery with a sustainable energy transition and answer questions on China’s approach to climate change mitigation, as well as the impact of a resurfacing of economic nationalism.

The business sessions are designed to keep attendees informed about the latest thinking on the part of industry leaders; this year, those business sessions will be delivered as webinars. In addition, there are many other events being organised by members, reflecting what Ciuciu regards as a “vivid and lively community”.

To learn more, download the EPCA Community app from Google Play or the Apple App Store, or go to https://epca.eu.