• Overview of the chemical industry in Singapore
• What are the future directions for industry growth?
• Analysing Singapore’s role in the global chemical value chain

• Overview of China’s chemical industry and its growth projections
• Surveying China’s trade liberalisation initiatives and understanding barriers and cross border trading issues
• How is China altering the dynamics of the global industry and how must companies integrate China into corporate strategies?

• Overview of the industry and key characteristics
• Evaluating drivers and obstacles for growth
• Achieving greater industry collaboration or consolidation

• Evaluating global chemical sector transformations
• Understanding the current Asian competitive landscape
• How can Asian chemical companies become more competitive?

Hercules Inc has been an increasingly active acquirer and investor in China since 2003.   Business Development Asia has worked with Hercules as a financial adviser on several of these initiatives, including - a 100% acquisition of a private Chinese company and a 3-way joint venture between Hercules, a Chinese SOE, and a Chinese private entity.  This session will focus on key transaction and investment issues in China and will include discussions on how Hercules' investments have performed since being acquired or established, and offer some thoughts from hindsight.

• Blending together network design across the full supply chain
• Collaborative working with solution companies and carriers
• Achieving higher ongoing management of an optimised supply chain

• Practical strategies with customer collaboration
•  Who should hold the inventory?
• Issues that come with ownership
• Challenges in technology alignment

• Surveying the network and phases of development of the integrated plants
• Utilisation of by-products and wastes within the inter-linked system
• Minimising energy and transportation costs

• Surveying key plant maintenance methodologies
• Improving production equipment reliability
• Identifying failure modes and failure management and mitigation strategies

• Reviewing the updated lifecycle assessment of NatureWork’s corn-based biopolymer
• Understanding the environmentally friendly materials market and the commercial factors
• What is the real impact on sustainability?

• Surveying key technologies in the chemical sector
• Technology development trends 
• Research and development directions

• Surveying different manufacturing approaches: What are the best processes to adopt and how do you tailor-make solutions?
• Production and technology planning and its impact on plant productivity
• Analysing the commercial aspects of maintenance planning and developing KPIs to monitor
• Resources that can be freed up through strategic outsourcing

• Developing a sustainable corporate-wide environment and safety programme
• Taking a systematic approach to risk management
• Choosing and managing your service partners based on responsible care ethics

• Supply chain management as the fundamentals of business growth
• Identifying key challenges and obstacles in your supply chain
• Creating effective communication with all stakeholders

• Understanding trading mechanisms, key market trends and petrochemical cycles
• Key capacity developments in the Middle East and its impact
• Petrochemical trading and hedging tools
• Understanding risk management and liquidity tools

• Strategies to reduce demand and price volatility
• Risk management through forward trading and price hedging
• Negotiating contracts to lock in energy expenditures
• Negotiating an effective SLA

• Key issues in the initial investment, planning and design
• Site location and operational and logistical efficiency
• Potential pitfall, challenges and strategies

• Implementation of a complete ERP solution on a global scale
• Designing a system of waste reduction whilst maintaining customer service levels
• Key challenges and solutions in the implementation process

• Understanding REACH and what it means for your operations
• What are the key compliance issues and requirements?
• What are the impacts on your operations outside of Europe?
• Surveying some of the potential resulting trading issues, challenges and possible solutions

• Surveying the current implementation of new chemical legislations and updates on existing ones
• Key regulatory issues in different Asian countries
• Key customs and security compliance requirements
•  How can Asian countries move towards greater collaboration and achieve a unified interpretation of international regulations?

• Overview of regulatory controls in Singapore
• Key security and safety compliance requirements
• Future directions and regional collaboration

In an increasingly regulated business environment, ensuring regulatory compliance has become a key factor of business success for chemical companies. Chemical regulations are undergoing fundamental changes as a result of the Globally Harmonised System and the European Union REACH Regulation. Booming production and increasing trade globalisation makes this even more complex for businesses in Asia.

This Masterclass will provide you with the practical knowledge on how to deal with current, pending and future chemical regulations around the globe. The class will discuss the crucial issues in understanding how chemicals are being regulated today in terms of production and marketing, and what type of systems and tools are needed to manage this successfully.

Key topics:

·          What is the impact of chemical regulations for businesses today?

·          How will the Globally Harmonised System change the way in which chemicals are regulated?

·          What is the business impact of the European Union REACH Regulation for chemical companies in Asia?

·          How do you cope with the multitude and diversity of national chemical regulations?

·          What are some of the business systems and tools to ensure ongoing compliance?

·          How to turn regulatory threats into business opportunities?