Katoen Natie takes advantage of the economic crisis

The Antwerp port group Katoen Natie is to take over three large terminals from the Dutch VLS Logistics, a sister company of the Dutch transport group Vos and in the process of being restructured. The takeover includes a 25 000 m2 terminal in Tessenderlo, where phosphates and sulphates are treated for the chemical plant Tessenderlo Chemie and powders and polymers stored for local petrochemical companies. In addition they have also bought two terminals in the Netherlands: the VSL silos and warehouses in Nuth near Maastricht and the huge VSL silo terminal on the Dow Chemical site in Terneuzen. With this takeover, Katoen Natie CEO Fernard Huts has once again profited from the crisis in the same way he negotiated the takeover with one of Italy’s biggest logistics groups, Rivalta & Dintorni, last year. “Many companies struggle to obtain loans from banks in times of crisis. We have noticed numerous takeover opportunities since March/April last year. There will be more in the next few years.” Huts is confident about getting the VSL operational sites back on track, saying: “We have a different approach. In our sector we soon discover why companies run at a loss. We come in with commonsense. And then it all works again. We showed growth in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and we are expecting the whole group to grow again this year.” During the past two years Katoen Natie added eleven new European sites to its petrochemical cluster which have meanwhile grown to make up 30% of the total turnover of 1 to 1.1 billion euros of turnover for the year. In Thailand the group will soon launch a logistic platform for the petrochemical industry. Says Huts: “Singapore, Thailand, India and China are making huge investments in the petrochemical sector. Antwerp can no longer lay claim on its former position as the second biggest petrochemical cluster in the world. Huge investments are being made in shoal gas in the US and within the next eight years the country will be able to meet its own energy needs. We are active across the globe.” The petrochemical sector in Europe is making hardly any investments any more and as far as Huts is concerned, it is struggling. “If the petrochemical industry in Europe wants to survive, it will have to specialise in niche products with a high added value.”