DSM Netherlands News 2008

Today, at around 3:30 pm, a 47-year-old operator at DSM Pharma Chemicals in Venlo (Netherlands) died after falling from a tank truck. DSM deeply regrets this tragic accident.

DSM Engineering Plastics announces that it has reached an agreement on the acquisition of the polymerization assets of Diolen Industrial Fibers BV. These include the facilities for polyester polymer production in Emmen (Netherlands), which will now be integrated with DSM’s polyester compounding facility in Emmen. As part of the acquisition, DSM will offer employment to 45 Diolen employees.

Royal DSM N.V. has appointed Mrs A.M. (Margo) Vliegenthart as member of the Supervisory Board of DSM Nederland B.V. (“DSM Netherlands”) with effect from 1 August 2008. Mrs Vliegenthart fills the vacancy caused by the untimely death of Mr M.A.M. (Thijs) Wöltgens earlier this year.

DSM today announces that the site services and manufacturing services at the Chemelot industry park in Geleen (Netherlands) will be differently organized in preparation for the previously announced sale of the DSM Agro, DSM Melamine and DSM Elastomers business groups, which forms part of the acceleration of DSM’s corporate strategy Vision 2010 – Building on Strengths.

DSM Agro in Geleen (the Netherlands) is the first company in the world to reduce its emissions of dinitrogen oxide (N2O) to zero. The emission of greenhouse gases from a nitric acid plant has never before been so greatly reduced. In doing so the company makes an important contribution towards the solution of the climate change problem. Today therefore the VNCI (Association of the Dutch Chemical Industry) awarded DSM Agro with the prestigious Responsible Care Award 2008. The award is made annually to the company that has made impressive progress in the area of Safety, Health and the Environment and that is an example to other companies. The award ceremony took place during the VNCI’s annual meeting in The Hague (the Netherlands).

Royal DSM N.V., the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company headquartered in the Netherlands, today announced the opening of the market development plant for PA4T, the new polymer for use in electronics and other applications. The plant is operational as of today.

Maastricht University and DSM jointly establish forensics institute

Following more than a year of preparations, 1 May 2008 will see the official launch of The Maastricht Forensic Institute (TMFI). TMFI will bring together the knowledge bases and infrastructural resources of Maastricht University (Netherlands) and DSM Resolve, DSM’s high-end analytics center in Geleen (Netherlands), providing the basis for a top-class forensic institute. The award of a subsidy from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) this week was the final crucial step enabling the institute’s official establishment. Earlier, the Dutch Province of Limburg had already pledged its financial support. As part of its ‘Acceleration Agenda for Limburg’, the province has committed itself to forensics developments in the region. The Acceleration Agenda has helped turn the TMFI initiative into reality by guiding it through to the appropriate subsidy providers.

The Dutch Minister Cramer (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment) has today inaugurated an installation that will greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the Chemelot Industrial Park in Geleen (Netherlands). The installation, located in one of DSM Agro’s two nitric acid plants in Geleen, captures the by-product dinitrogen oxide (N2O). It is the largest of its kind in the world. DSM Agro’s other nitric acid plant in Geleen and its two nitric acid plants in IJmuiden (Netherlands) have also been equipped with dinitrogen oxide capturing units.