Facing new challenges

Mark Wubbels, head of RBL emerging markets at Clariant, speaks to Biofuels International about the challenges the company faces in a post-pandemic world made more uncertain by the Ukraine war.

1. Can you outline how the past 12 months have been for Clariant?
   Over the last 12 months, much like the year before, almost all the geographies and markets in which we operate were impacted by the global Covid-19 crisis. The effects included (partial) lockdowns, lower market predictability, greater swings in the supply-demand balance, continued strain on freight and shipping availability, and, above all, unprecedented cost pressure. At our operations, not only did we comply with all local safety regulations, but often went beyond these measures to ensure maximum safety for our colleagues and preserve the integrity of our operations so that we could continue to supply our customers. Wherever we could, we accelerated our cost reduction programmes, and we continue to work hard to keep pricing at reinvestment levels. Where we were able to successfully establish these measures, we benefited from the healthy growth drivers that underpin our...
   
   
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