We go to the ball valves, turn them on, and off we go: With this symbolic start-up, Schirm GmbH opened its modern multi-purpose synthesis plant for the production of fine and specialty chemicals in Schönebeck on 14 September 2018. The plant’s investment volume totaled 20 million Euros and construction took three years. Four hundred invited guests, including Mark Dytor, CEO of parent company AECI from South Africa, and Saxony-Anhalt’s State Premier, Dr. Reiner Haseloff, attended the opening ceremony.

“The commissioning of the Multi-Purpose Synthesis Plant III marks a milestone in our corporate development,” says Dirk Unterstenhöfer, Managing Director of Schirm GmbH. “We now have another ultra-modern building complex and have been able to create a total of more than 80 new qualified jobs at our traditional Schönebeck site through several major investment projects since 2012. We are very proud of this,“

The commissioning of the multi-purpose synthesis plant not only safeguards jobs at Schirm, but also lays the foundation for further growth at the site. “Qualified personnel are crucial to us for fulfilling our orders and thus generating further growth. In particular, Schirm urgently needs chemical technicians and laboratory assistants. So, in order to attract more specialists to our company, we are maintaining a lively exchange with schools and universities in Saxony-Anhalt,” says Unterstenhöfer.

The new facility gives Schirm the capacity to produce over 1,000 metric tons of fine and special chemicals more a year. The products resulting from synthesis are used in numerous sectors such as the automotive, plastics and electronics industries, as well as in agriculture and the construction industry.