Founded in 1937 in Levate, in the heart of the Italian chemical industry, SABO is now among the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS). Following recent acquisitions in China and Germany, the Italian company has augmented vertical integration in the production of HALS, becoming the largest Western company, owned entirely by private capital, to offer polymer additives on a global scale.
An active player on a path of consistent growth characterized by a marked entrepreneurial spirit, a strong innovative thrust, and more than 80 years of know-how, SABO is now even more decisively raising its presence on the global chemical market of polymer additives, attaining a turnover of more than US$ 350 million at the close of the 2022 financial year and confirming its trend of 15% average growth over the past 10 years.
The new strategic turning point came in late 2022, when the acquisition of the assets and production plants at Marl and Liaoyang from the multinational company Evonik Industries AG was completed: with this operation, the company raised to 5 production sites in the world (2 in Italy and the others in Mexico, Germany and China), and the number of employees to more than 400, thus supplementing the production chain and expanding its own global footprint.
This development is part of a broader strategic project implemented by SABO to become increasingly competitive on the landscape of the industry’s largest players, thanks to optimization of the entire production chain, to the products’extensive distribution, and the acquisition of new and cutting-edge patented technologies.
In this sense, and by virtue of the investment planned also on the logistics front, the company is now able to respond even more effectively to the global demand for HALS, serving more than 60 countries with a production reaching about 40,000 tons per year.
From the Middle East to Korea, from Japan to America: SABO is an innovative, competent, and reliable partner, providing its customers with excellent solutions capable of meeting not only the stability and durability requirements of their products, but also the growing regulatory standards in the matter of sustainability and safety.
In both organization and production, the sustainable commitment is demonstrated by important honors – including the certification received from EcoVadis for the sustainable management system – and by its decade-long participation in the RIGK program, which promotes the circular economy through the recovery and recycling of plastic packaging: in fact, thanks to the reuse of the industrial packaging at its own production sites, in 2022 SABO reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 14,000 kg in absolute terms, corresponding to the CO2 absorbed by 1,022 trees in Europe in one year. Moreover, many memberships have for some time linked the company to sustainable projects and initiatives, bearing witness to the fact that, at SABO, sustainability permeates both the culture and corporate strategy.
In this growth plan, the mission of the production sites deployed in the world is well defined: hi-tech and efficient, Levate (Italy) will continue to be the Group’s productive heart, also due to its Research and Development department aimed at the creation of new products and at the continuous improvement of all our core HALS including SABOSTAB® UV 119, manufactured in Pontecchio Marconi (Italy) with the best process for optimal purity and consistency.
The Marl (Germany) chemical park will guarantee SABO’s adoption of an integrated industrial approach, thanks to the interconnected network of services and assets, to the R&D center and the broad availability of top-quality ingredients to be employed in making the latest-generation HALS, in total synergy with the Levate site.
Last but not least, the Liaoyang site, which today has made SABO the only Western manufacturer with a production footprint in China, will open up new and immediate opportunities for the company to access the geographic region with the world’s highest potential for development.
As for the American market, the production of SABOSTAB UV 94 in Mexico, already active since 2014, will continue to guarantee strategic support and procurement for the continents to the west.
Thanks to the 5 sites’ integration and synergistic action, in addition to the imminent opening of a new distribution center dedicated to polymer additives in Germany, the volume of HALS and other innovative solutions offered by SABO is expected to record significant growth during the upcoming two-year period: the most recent of these new developments is SABOSTAB® UV 26, which enables the industry to develop formulations with lower environmental impacts while at the same time improving the quality and performance of the finished products. With this new product – along with SABOSTAB® UV 119 for which it is the world’s largest producer, Alkoxy HALS dedicated to agro-industry applications, and the new line of Anti-fog and Anti-static agents for the food, agricultural, and automotive sectors –, SABO has extended its product range, once again confirming its undisputed manufacturing leadership in the production of HALS over the past 20 years.
Completing the picture are the safety investments and the numerous worker and community welfare programs, which underscore the attention that SABO has long given to protecting and safeguarding the well-being of the more than 400 employees deployed at all the sites, thus making it one of the most dynamic and attractive companies in the international specialty chemicals industry..