Profiling top chemical distributors in Southeast Asia
Distributors enjoy strong performance, advancing organic and inorganic growth
Brenntag Essentials
Chan Huan Yong, APAC Regional President
Brief intro: Brenntag is the global market leader in chemicals and ingredients distribution. Our two global divisions, Brenntag Essentials and Brenntag Specialties, provide a full line portfolio of industrial and specialty chemicals and ingredients as well as tailor made application, marketing and supply chain solutions, technical and formulation support, comprehensive regulatory knowledge, and digital solutions for a wide range of industries.
Recent performance: In 2022, Brenntag generated sales of EUR19,429.3 million with a robust growth of 27.7% compared to the previous year. Brenntag’s operating gross profit rose 20.3% against EUR4,319.0 million the year before. On 22 March 2023, Brenntag Essentials announced the acquisition of Aik Moh Group, expanding its business into key focus markets in Asia Pacific.
Differentiation: As the global market leader in chemical and ingredients distribution, Brenntag does not only continually improve ourselves in all we do by embracing the spirit of excellence, but also take on the responsibility to shape the chemical industry together with our customers and suppliers.
Priorities: 1) Strengthen our local and regional distribution networks and optimize our last mile delivery capabilities, 2) Enhance our global expertise by re-enforcing global sourcing market intelligence capabilities and expanding global terminal capabilities at strategic ports, 3) Capturing new market potential through M&A and increasing our portfolio of sustainable products and supply chain solutions.
DKSH
Victor Liew, Director, Performance Materials for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore
Brief intro: DKSH Business Unit Performance Materials is a leading distributor of specialty chemicals and ingredients for food and beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care and specialty chemical industries, providing a full range of market expansion services to support our partners’ business growth. As a recent development, DKSH Indonesia has just launched its newly renovated Performance Materials office in Jakarta, housing a new Food and Beverage Ingredients Innovation Center.
Recent performance: DKSH delivered very strong FY22 results, which not only confirm our successful strategy execution, but also the resilience of our business model. Within the Performance Materials unit, we strengthened our position as a leader in pure-play specialty chemicals and ingredients, with high double-digit growth in net sales, which also holds true for our market position in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. These results were also supported by improved industrial demand.
Differentiation: DKSH was recognized by the Asia eCommerce Awards 2022 with three gold and one bronze award for DKSH Discover, an in-house developed channel, as part of our efforts to accelerate digital transformation. The platform allows technical specialists to conveniently access information on cutting-edge formulations, request samples and quotes, and connect with our technical experts.
Priorities: Moving forward, DKSH remains committed to further enriching people’s lives by providing innovative solutions that meet the needs of both our suppliers and our customers, and by lending our deep industry expertise and technical know-how within this rapidly changing global business environment.
Behn Meyer Group
Dirk Lorenz-Meyer, Board Member
Brief intro: Behn Meyer is probably the only large chemical and ingredients distributor with an overwhelmingly Southeast Asian footprint. Today, Malaysia is our biggest market due to Agricare’s strong fertilizer and crop protection business, as well as our distribution and manufacturing network. Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are our other key countries with large and diversified operations, with the Philippines and Myanmar following in terms of size.
Recent performance: 2022 was one of the best years in Behn Meyer’s over 180 years of history and we are using this momentum to further invest into sustainable solutions. We want to strengthen our industry expertise across all our four business pillars – Agricare, Ingredients, Performance Chemicals, and Polymers – and hence decided to invest into own manufacturing and product development. Our push towards sustainability is the common theme of all investments.
Differentiation: Placing Behn Meyer in the top 5% of audited companies, the EcoVadis gold medal is a testament to our ongoing efforts in advancing the sustainability of our products and operations. It is a significant external recognition that puts Behn Meyer as a family-owned company on the same level as publicly listed multinationals.
Priorities: We are currently on target to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 25% against the 2021 baseline by 2025. Ultimately, we aim to become carbon neutral by 2040 – the year that marks the 200th anniversary of Behn Meyer.
