CHEMICAL AMBITION Danish fine chemicals manufacturer Cheminova AS has enjoyed considerable growth in recent years thanks to a refocus of its product portfolio and a clear business strategy. Emma-Jane Batey interviewed president of communications Lars Erik Pederson to find out how this is being carried forward.
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the three years since Industry Europe last interviewed Danish fine chemicals manufacturer Cheminova AS, the company has transformed its product portfolio and achieved a growth of 28 per cent. Well known for its production of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides for crops and pests, Cheminova now employs around 800 people in Denmark and 1200 abroad, a steady increase of more than 10 per cent from the figures in 2008. The company’s financial figures also show a comfortable comparison to the heights of 2008, with the 2010 figure of DKK 5.6 billion above the DKK 5.2 billion posted in the strong market of 2008. 172 Industry Europe
Continued strength
President of Communications Lars Erik Pederson is clear that the company’s continued strength is as much to do with careful strategy and a skilled workforce as its transformed product portfolio. He told Industry Europe, “Over the past three years Cheminova has worked hard to keep our product portfolio relevant, competitive and customer-focused. Previously we were rather dependant on glyphosate, so our product reorganisation is now significantly more balanced, which we have achieved through the development of and growth from new products. The revenue from new
products is more than DKK 1 billion and accounts for more than 60 per cent of our sales, so we know that our transformation strategy is a successful one, particularly as it was executed during a period of difficult global economic conditions.” With broad-spectrum systemic herbicide glyphosate now only accounting for 15 per cent of Cheminova’s revenue compared with 33 per cent in previous years, the company is well-positioned to continue to move away from glyphosate dependency and toward more niche weedkiller products. Cheminova AS is based in Lemvig, Denmark, and has its main business area
