We are a diversified, global chemical company providing innovative solutions,
applications and market leading products to a wide variety of markets. We operate
in three distinct business segments: Agricultural Products, Specialty Chemicals
and Industrial Chemicals. Our Agricultural Products segment focuses primarily
on insecticides and herbicides, which are used in agriculture to enhance crop
yield and quality by controlling a broad spectrum of insects and weeds as well
as pest control in non-agricultural markets. Specialty Chemicals consists of
our BioPolymer and lithium businesses and focuses on food ingredients that are
used to enhance texture, structure and physical stability, pharmaceutical additives
for binding, encapsulation and disintegrant applications, ultrapure biopolymers
for medical devices and lithium specialties for pharmaceutical synthesis, specialty
polymers and energy storage. Our Industrial Chemicals segment manufactures a
wide range of inorganic materials, including soda ash, hydrogen peroxide, specialty
peroxygens and phosphorus chemicals.
Agricultural Products
Our Agricultural Products segment, develops, manufactures and sells a portfolio
of crop protection, professional pest control and lawn and garden products.
Our innovation and growth efforts focus on developing environmentally compatible
solutions that can effectively increase farmers’ yields and provide cost-effective
alternatives to older chemistries to which insects or weeds may have developed
resistance.
Industrial Chemicals
Our Industrial Chemicals segment, has low-cost positions in high volume inorganic
chemicals including soda ash and hydrogen peroxide, complemented by high value,
niche positions in specialty alkali, phosphorus and peroxygen products.
Industrial Chemicals serves a diverse group of markets, from economically-sensitive
industrial sectors to technology-intensive specialty markets. We process and
sell refined inorganic products that are sought by customers for their critical
reactivity or specific functionality in markets such as glass, detergents and
pulp and paper. In addition, we produce, purify and market higher value downstream
derivatives into specialized and customer-specific applications.
Specialty Chemicals
Our Specialty Chemicals segment, is focused on high-performance food ingredients,
pharmaceutical excipients and encapsulants, biomedical technologies and lithium
specialty products, all of which enjoy solid customer bases and consistent,
growing demand. The majority of Specialty Chemicals sales are to customers in
non-cyclical end markets.
Competition
We have a number one or number two market position in many of our product lines,
based on revenue, either globally or in North America, largely as a result of
our product offerings, proprietary technologies and our position as a low-cost
producer.
Our Agricultural Products segment competes primarily in the global chemical crop
protection market for insecticides, herbicides and fungicides. The industry is
characterized by a relatively small number of large competitors and a large number
of smaller, often regional competitors. Industry products include crop protection
chemicals and, for certain major competitors, genetically engineered (crop biotechnology)
products. Competition from generic agrochemical producers has increased as a significant
number of product patents held industry-wide have expired in the last decade.
In general, we compete as an innovator by focusing on product development, including
novel formulations, proprietary mixes, and advanced delivery systems and by acquiring
or licensing (mostly) proprietary chemistries or technologies that complement
our product and geographic focus. We also differentiate ourselves by our global
cost-competitiveness via our manufacturing strategies, establishing effective
product stewardship programs and developing strategic alliances that strengthen
market access in key countries and regions.
With significant positions in markets that include alginate, carrageenan, microcrystalline
cellulose and lithium-based products, Specialty Chemicals competes on the basis
of product differentiation, market applications expertise, customer service
and price. BioPolymer competes with both direct suppliers of cellulose and seaweed
extract as well as suppliers of other hydrocolloids, which may provide similar
functionality in specific applications. In microcrystalline cellulose, competitors
are typically smaller than us, while in seaweed extracts (alginates), we compete
with other broad-based chemical companies. We and each of our two most significant
competitors in lithium extract the element from naturally occurring lithium-rich
brines located in the Andes Mountains of Argentina and Chile which are believed
to be the world’s most significant and lowest cost sources of lithium.
Industrial Chemicals serves the soda ash markets worldwide, the peroxygens
markets predominantly in North America and Europe and the phosphorus markets
in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. In North America, our soda ash
business competes with four domestic producers of natural soda ash, three of
which operate in the vicinity of our mine and processing facilities in Green
River, Wyoming. Outside of the U.S, Canada and Europe, we sell soda ash mainly
through ANSAC. Internationally, our natural soda ash competes with synthetic
soda ash manufactured by numerous producers, ranging from integrated multinational
companies to smaller regional companies. We maintain a leading position in the
North American market for peroxygens. There are currently five other firms competing
in the peroxygens market in North America. The primary competitive factor affecting
the sales of soda ash and peroxygens is price.
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