Nabaltec_E_GB2016

T R O P E R T N E M E G A N A M D E T A D I L O S N O C 32 DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS ENTERPRISE International prizes and awards for innovativeness An expression of Nabaltec’s strong commitment to research and development is its receipt of various national and international awards and distinctions for innovativeness. For example, Nabaltec AG has been recognized as one of the 100 most innovative mid-sized German compa- nies nine times and has received awards for innovativeness in multiple areas. Currently, the focus of Nabaltec’s research and development activities is above all on improving and refining existing products and processes. The requirements are defined by customer and market demands, which are constantly changing. These requirements must be met at all times, while at the same time supplementing and extending our product range in target markets. Our focus in this regard is on constantly improving quality and on identifying and exploiting new applications. The following subjects were at the center of R&D activities for the business division “Functional Fillers” in the 2016 reporting year: Mineral-based flame retardants continue to represent a key growth market for Nabaltec’s innovative and eco-friendly products. The trend towards the replacement of halogenated flame retardants with non-halogenated flame retardants continued to ensure growth in 2016. Additional growth came from the implementation of the CPR (Construction Products Regulation) within the EU. These new EU-wide rules create new applications for Nabaltec’s mineral-based products which were formerly inaccessible. The steady exploitation of these new applications, in some cases resulting in the development of new products, was of central significance in the reporting year. In particular, the strong attention paid in the CPR to the issues of “flue gas development” and “flue gas corrosiveness” have been key drivers for the development of new uses and applications. Minerals-based flame retardants continue to be a key growth market Development and marketing of new materials for alternative energy storage and electric mobility Efforts to optimize and market our new raw materials for alternative energy storage and electric vehicles continued steadily in 2016. For the extension of our activities in connec- tion with the catalysis and the adsorbents industry, the focus is now on the development of processes for large-scale production. This is another reason why Nabaltec AG decided to move its pilot plant from Kelheim to Schwandorf. Concentrating product and process development in a single location will cut development time and the lessons learned in this regard can be more quickly applied towards large-scale production. The business division “Technical Ceramics” was focused on the following developments in the reporting year: A focus of development activities in the NABALOX® product segment in 2016 was on steady improvements to abrasives which are already established in the market. Particular atten- tion was also given to the development of new softly calcined aluminum hydroxides, for use primarily with high-quality abrasives. As the marketing of these products continued to progress, and amid a wide variety of feedback and suggestions from our customers and development partners, development continued in 2016, and additional customer-specific products were developed. Reactive aluminum oxides are used mainly in the refractory industry Nabaltec’s reactive aluminum oxides are currently used primarily in the refractory industry, where the products already contribute significantly toward the production of higher performance monolithic and shaped products. This product segment is also characterized by intensive collaboration with our customers, resulting in constant efforts to develop new products and improve existing ones. |||| Nabaltec AG | Annual Report 2016

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