Schleswig-Holstein

Land of horizons

Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost federal state of Germany, and, with an area of roughly 16,000 km² also one of its smaller territorial states. However, the vicinity to Denmark and to the whole of Scandinavia, and the fact, that Schleswig-Holstein is bordered by both the Baltic and the North Sea compensates for this lack of size. Due to it’s location it is a favoured German holiday destination, a strong logistical site and the home of one of Germany’s largest industrial areas.

Schleswig-Holstein is famous for the sandy beaches of the Baltic Sea and the rough weather on the shores of the North Sea. The cultural heritage reaches from the days of the northmen, to the Hanse trade association, and nowaday-festivals like the Wacken Open Air or the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. These and other events like the Kiel Week bring thousands of visitors into the north. Another distinct factor of regional heritage as well as an economical base is the maritme industry. Ranging from shipyards to fishing and blue biotechnology, the people of Schleswig-Holstein always loved working by and with the water.

Land of business

In the logistical sector Schleswig-Holstein is a vital transit country for the transport of goods from Western Europe to Scandinavia (north-range). In addition its many ports like the ones in Luebeck, Kiel or Brunsbuettel provide the hinterland with various import and export facilities, thus enabling the development of major industrial sites like the one in Brunsbuettel.

Located 80 km north of Hamburg at the crossing point of Elbe River and Kiel-Canal, Brunsbuettel benefits from the logistics advantages of Germany’s sixth largest port, the wide range of service and trading companies, and the charme of metropolitan living. With the city of Hamburg in just 45 car-minutes distance there is a great variety of trade and service partners for the chemical industry in the vicinity.
The production-focus in Brunsbuettel reaches from oil production and processing to base chemi-cals, and power generation. Global players like Sasol, Yara, Total, Lanxess, Shell, RWE-Dea and Bayer are producing a variety of chemical compounds in the ChemCoast Park Brunsbuettel: Iso-cyanides, organic and inorganic intermediates, textile dyes, technical fatty alcohols, plasticizers, high purity alumina e.g. for catalyst production, ammonia, urea, sulphur, argon, bitumen, mineral oil, ethylene, and propylene. These companies employ approximately 4,500 highly qualified engi-neers and workers, roughly a third of the overall number of the employees in the Schleswig-Holstein chemical industry.

ChemCoast Park Brunsbüttel is characterised as a park without a central operator but optimal co-operation possibilities. That means there is the choice to set up facilities separately as well as to start at established sites. Whether with feedstock exchange, logistics, co-workers or environmental protection: The synergy effects are various and contribute to the cost advantages and also to the crucial competitive edge.

With 19 universities, universities of applied sciences, and business academies Schleswig-Holstein provides a great potential of qualification and innovation for the industry.