de - Beste verfügbare Techniken (BVT) - Umweltbundesamt

Chapter 1
Organic fine chemical manufacturers produce a wide range of chemical substances, which are
typically of a high added-value and produced in low volumes, mainly by batch processes in
multipurpose plants. They are sold to companies, mostly other chemical companies, serving an
immense range of end-user markets, on either a specification of purity or on their ability to
deliver a particular effect. Typical major end-user markets are pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals,
dyestuffs, flavours and fragrances, speciality polymers, electronics, food additives, and
catalysts. Typical of the OFC sector is the manufacture of products or intermediates for internal
use, in addition to external sales. The global market has grown at around 4 % per year and is
currently valued at around EUR 265000 million (USD 300000 million). Demand patterns
affecting typical European OFC manufacturers are:
• continued globalisation of major customers, e.g. pharmaceutical companies, consequently
reducing the number of new chemical substances requiring contract manufacture
• continued shift of manufacturing activities to the Far East
• continued rationalisation of large multinationals, leading to more outsourcing of existing
and new low volume substances
• increasing costs of regulation, affecting the cost base especially of smaller manufacturers.
Numer of enterprises and sales
by employment size (share in %)
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Number of
enterprises
1 - 9 employees
10 - 49 employees
Sales Employment
50 - 249 employees
more than 250 employees
Figure 1.2: Number of enterprises and sales by employment size
OFC manufacturers range in size from very small (20000 staff), with typical manufacturing sites having between 150 and 250 staff.
2 Dezember 2005 OFC_BREF