North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is the largest German Bundesland (federal state) regarding population and is located in the centre of Europe, in the West bordering Belgium and The Netherlands. NRW is the most important chemical region in Europe, its 467 chemical companies (NACE 24; 20 and more employees) generating a turnover of more than 45 billion Euro in 2003, one third of Germanys total chemistry turnover. With 105,690 employees (NACE 24; 20 and more employees) the chemical industry is one of the most important branches in the region.

North Rhine-Westphalia is a location with an excellent infrastructure. The transport system with seven international airports, Europe’s largest domestic port in Duisburg and a road network of nearly 30,000 km (whereof 2,200 km are motorways) is unrivalled in the world. Twelve universities with chemical departments and a large number of advanced technical colleges and research institutes are located in NRW, providing a lively science community. North Rhine-Westphalia with its long industrial tradition shows a high acceptance for industry and offers a large pool of skilled workers.

There are two main chemical clusters in NRW, one in the northern Ruhr Basin, the other along the river Rhine. Both cluster areas are promoted by chemical industry initiatives organised as Public Private Partnerships, namely ChemSite in the Ruhr Basin and ChemCologne in the Rhine Area. Further chemical plants are distributed across the region.

For nearly 200 years the heart of the German industrial sector has been beating in the Ruhr Basin, with its coal and steel industries. In this area a chemical industry cluster evolved, traditionally with an emphasis on coal chemistry, later evolving to petrochemistry. E.g., the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung (coal research) with a history of nearly one hundred years, was directed by "legends in chemistry" like Franz Fischer and Karl Ziegler. Besides the petrochemistry with leading companies like BP, Sabic, Rüttgers and Aral, the cluster is affected by speciality chemistry, e.g. the world-leading Degussa.

The second cluster in the Rhine area of Cologne and Düsseldorf features strengths in basic chemistry and plastics (e.g. Lanxess, formerly part of Bayer, and Basell), pharmaceuticals (e.g. Bayer) and detergents (e.g. Henkel). The Rhine area, also known for its quality of life, has been traditionally strongly industrialised because of its access to the North Sea and the world markets via Germany’s largest river. The university of Aachen is world-famous for its chemical engineering and polymer science departments.

The decline of the traditional industries, especially of the coal and steel industries, faced NRW with high unemployment rates and the challenge of structural changes. These problems have been and still were addressed by concentrating on futureoriented technologies, also in the chemical branch.