Become a pure leader in Specialty Materials
Global demand for new, innovative and sustainable materials is growing. Today this trend is accelerating, fuelled by new needs:
- mobility (lightweighting, sturdiness, batteries);
- urbanization (insulation, energy efficiency, modular construction);
- environment (solar, wind, hydrogen, water treatment, renewable resources);
- industrialization 4.0 (3D printing, miniaturization, smart materials);
- customization (design, performance, durability).
To meet our customers’ needs for high-tech, lightweight, biosourced, recyclable materials, Arkema has steadily transformed itself and evolved its business portfolio since its creation, consolidated its organization, and developed its assets and know-how. These developments serve the vision we have had from the outset: to make Arkema a pure leader in Specialty Materials, focused on innovation and sustainable materials solutions.
Unique skills to address these issues
Arkema has built a unique range of solutions thanks to the breadth and diversity of the ranges of materials developed or acquired over the past 15 years. In particular:
- We know how to glue materials.
- We know how to replace materials with lighter, more efficient or biosourced solutions.
- We know how to protect materials and apply coatings to them.
All these skills draw upon strong expertise in materials science that combines our knowledge of polymerization, formulation, and application know-how. This expertise stands at the heart of Arkema's business, and our combined sets of know-how enable us to offer tailored solutions and unique innovations to the most demanding customers in many sectors such as electronics, decorative and industrial paint, construction, and automotive.
Know-how structured around 3 growth platforms with strong synergies
These skills are organized into three coherent and complementary segments, centered on the science of materials:
Together, these three segments make up the Specialty Materials platform on which Arkema builds its future and which form the basis of its long-term vision of the company.
The combination of these three platforms is unique in the chemical industry. It helps create strong in-house synergies in terms of innovation, as well as business and operational prospects. It also offers us an outstanding ability to serve our customers in attractive and diverse growing markets.
Ambition 2024
Our goal is to be a 100% Specialty Materials player and to achieve by 2024:
- €10 to 11 billion sales.
- Organic growth above GDP.
- Resilient Group profitability with an EBITDA margin of some 17%.
To achieve this, we will focus our development investments and our organic and external growth efforts on Specialty Materials, increasing their margin from 15.8% to 17%.
At the same time, we will gradually reduce the share of our Intermediates segment by implementing a differentiated strategy across its three business lines, including a large part of divestments.
Four drivers at the heart of the strategy
These four drivers have always been at the heart of our transformation and will remain so:
- Accelerating organic growth and innovation, particularly in major sustainable development trends.
- Complement our commercial and geographic positions through targeted acquisitions, particularly in adhesives.
- Continue our commercial and operational excellence programs
- Achieve the best CSR performance.
