ChemChina

BlueStar CEO outlines strategy for surviving the downturn

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-09 07:45

Established in 2007 following the acquisition of Rhodia Silicones by China National BlueStar Corp, BlueStar Silicones is a worldwide silicones supplier, currently with sales worth $858.5 million and production sites throughout the world.

BlueStar Silicones has combined the company's existing upstream silicon metal facilities and capacities with Rhodia's downstream silicones markets and applications expertise to create one of the world's leading fully integrated silicone producers.

In light of the global downturn in the chemical industry, just what difficulties has the company experienced, and what measures has the company taken?

Olivier de Clermont-Tonnerre, CEO of BlueStar Silicones, spoke with China Daily in an exclusive interview with regard to the company's handling of the worldwide financial crisis.

Q: How did BlueStar Silicone react to the worldwide slowdown?

Olivier: Ren Jianxin, president of our parent company, ChemChina had meetings with all of the subsidiaries as soon as the extent of the crisis became known. He gave his own recommendations on how to optimize our businesses during the economic slowdown, both challenging and supporting us at the same time. He asked everybody to concentrate on sales-innovation, cost cutting, and cash optimization, insisting always that we had to take even quicker decisions, whilst being ready to take advantage of the opportunities emerging from the crisis. We believe we will emerge from this current situation even stronger.

Q: What measures have you taken to overcome the difficulties?

Olivier: We experienced, at the beginning of 2009, a significant impact on our organic silicone business. This resulted in a decrease of our sales volume compared to a year before - despite our record level of success in new product development. We had to put a freeze on hiring and cut all unnecessary external costs, whilst making sure we were taking full advantage of lower raw materials and energy prices. At the same time we decreased our inventory level in order to optimize cash flow.

In spite of such difficult economic conditions, we are continuing to invest for the future with new production facilities for organic silicones, both upstream and downstream. We are also expanding our silicon metal capacity.

Q: Compared with other chemical companies, what are your unique advantages?

Olivier: First of all, our parent company is based in China and thus operating within a very dynamic market with an accelerated growth potential. We think positively, we consider that all problems bring opportunities and we share the same ambitious vision for the company, which motivates all of our employees.

Compared to Western-based chemical giants, who had to come to terms with restructuring in the chemical sector during a protracted period in their home markets, I believe we can be quicker, more opportunistic and accept a higher level of risks. We want also to be as good as they are in terms of technology, quality, safety and environmental protection. All of our new products, process developments and investments are making sustainable development a priority. It represents a new standard of excellence for us.

Our vision is to become an international leader in the global chemical industry. It might take time, but each decision is driven by this shared vision and we are proceeding as quickly as we can. Our president, Ren Jianxin, is our champion in terms of entrepreneurship and also a charismatic leader. He has demonstrated, throughout his career, an ability to take risks and develop emerging businesses into strong profitable entities.

Q: Could you define the culture in your company?

Olivier: We are proud of our four company values. Firstly, we give priority to clients and quality. Secondly, we aim to be at the forefront of sustainable development. Thirdly, we have developed a winning and open-mindset. Fourthly, we have sought to implement a results-driven culture.

These values have been developed through combining the best of BlueStar and our own pre-acquisition silicone business values into one composite model.

Since becoming part of the BlueStar family, we have built joint teams of Chinese and overseas managers from our top management teams and created cutting-edge project teams. We have all taken full ownership of this integration process. We have sent some 12 overseas employees to China, in a variety of positions, and have received, in turn, a number of young talented Chinese managers and engineers as trainees within our organization.

Ren, along with all the senior executives of BlueStar, has celebrated on many occasions our joint successes, whilst fully recognizing the different cultures and the difficulties involved with working together. We have a BlueStar internal newspaper -BlueStar Communication- dedicated to highlighting our most significant achievements. It also focuses on Chinese and French cultural events and celebrates the separate roots of our combined businesses.