Despite the financial crisis and the first indications about an economic downturn, Evides Industriewater is able to announce that 2008 is expected to generate good financial results. Sales volume, turnover and EBIT will end substantially higher than compared to 2007, while we have grown our number of staff in order to cope with the increased workload.
“We are happy with this development and actually are able to conclude that the growth-strategy that Evides Industriewater embarked on in 2007 is showing first results. The basis of that strategy is of course made up of our existing DBFO projects that all contribute to the current success of Evides Industriewater”, according to Markus Flick, manager Evides Industriewater. “Taking day-to-day responsibility for contracts has resulted in maximum service to our customers in 2008. Nevertheless we remain critical and keep striving for improvements whenever possible. As an example we have been making good use of our 8 mobile RO-units in 2008 in order to secure reliability of supply and to assist our customers whenever temporary increase of the supply of demineralised water was necessary.”
The start-up of our demi-plant Pergen (with Shell’s refinery at Pernis/Rotterdam as its most important customer) marks an important milestone of our commitment to the Rotterdam industry. The plant operates at full capacity since Q4-08 and contributes to the result of Evides.
On the building scene the new demi-plant for Yara at Sluiskil takes shape. Since Q4-08 the silhouette of this 400 m3/hour plant slowly but surely emerges above ground. In joint cooperation with our project execution organisation the plant is scheduled for start-up in Q3-09.
In 2008 Evides decided to invest in a major multi-client demi-plant (location: Botlek/Rotterdam) as well as a MBR-plant (location: Terneuzen) for reuse of high-quality effluent. Both projects are truly “entrepeneurial” since they combine unprecedented scale and innovation. The MBR at the municipal WWTP of the town of Terneuzen will be the biggest airthe Netherlands and – even more important – this project constitutes an interesting example of an integrated watercycle-solution: by combining new treatment capacity at a municipal waste water treatment plant with production of superior effluent quality reuse of a meaningful water source for the industry is made possible.
In Germany we have started with our own marketing and sales organisation this year in order to identify new water treatment opportunities with the chemical industry. Our successful cooperation with Dow Chemical in a demi-water project in Stade (near Hamburg) serves as full proof that the experience gathered with large scale projects in the Netherlands related to water treatment by means of full-service DBFO contracts has been of help to secure this project in Germany. “The challenges for the chemical industry in the Netherlands and Germany are similar”, according to Markus Flick. “Reduction of water usage and energy consumption, reuse of water, increase of sustainability within all water issues: they all matter to the industry in both countries. We are fairly convinced that our proven track-record of service to the industry will be of help to identify and eventually develop projects in Germany. Which of course does not disregard the fact that the German marketplaced has characteristics of its own.” Since the beginning of 2008 Martin Braunersreuther – business developoment manager Germany – develops our market intelligence from his base in the Ruhr area in western Germany.
Having initiated so many new projects and activities in 2008, we look forward to 2009 with confidence, however, realising that markets are adrift and we might see developments that can’t be foreseen in advance.