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The Communications and Member Services Division focused its efforts on five areas:
Various projects were developed and common interest topics were analyzed for the chemical industry branches represented in ANIQ Manufacturers and Distributors Sections.
Nationwide events were held for updating and communicating information. Also ANIQ actively participated in international events aiming at exchanging information and perspectives regarding the chemical industry.
Actions were taken for the implementation of a quality management system in ANIQ process operations.
General projects were conducted and internal and external communication processes were established.
ANIQ carried out an intense membership program to keep member companies and to promote services in the regions of the country where ANIQ member companies are located
CHEMICAL PRODUCT MANUFACTURERS AND DISTRIBUTORS SECTIONS
The Board of Directors of the Manufacturers and Distributors Sections and ANIQ Sections Management team prepared and reviewed all work plans for 2008. The objectives for several common interest projects were set forth in these plans. The matters included ranged from presentations related to finished products markets up to the organization of forums and technical events; the preparation of quality standards and the preparation of sector surveys such as surveys on Pigments, Adhesives and Resins.
Relationships were developed with chambers and associations of finished products markets aiming at exchanging information on the domestic market of finished products. These relationships were developed both for the domestic and the international markets, among them, the Mexican Auto Parts Industry, the Chamber of Soaps and Detergents, the Chamber of Cellulose and Paper, the Pan American Center for Research and Innovation, Chemical Markets Associates Inc., the Adhesive & Sealant Council, and the National Association of Chemical Distributors.
The work of the sections generated value for the companies that took an active part in these activities. This was confirmed by the good results found out through the evaluation surveys responded by the Sections.
The most outstanding results are described below:
EVENTS
Sections Annual Convention
The purpose of the Sections Annual Convention is to update the representatives of the chemical industry on relevant topics. It is also an excellent forum for the interaction of managers and the commercial departments of companies, and for networking with the various players of the domestic chemical industry chains.
The convention was held in the Mayan Riviera in May and received around 100 attendees. International special guests participated. The whole group -including spouses and children- totaled 200 people.
The Sections' support and the enthusiastic participation of ANIQ members and staff made it possible to reach the goals of the convention.
Technical and Business Forums of the Manufacturers' Sections
A new version of Section meetings was implemented aiming at delving into interesting topics and inviting representatives of various sectors related to the Sections and the productive chains in which they participate.
Therefore, the following forums were organized:
Adhesive and Sealants Technical Forum
Lubricants and Additives Technical Forum
Pigments and Lubricants Technical Forum
Distributors' Raw Materials Forum
XI ProVinilo Forum
The eleventh edition of this annual dialog forum of the vinyl chain was held in November in Mexico City. 120 people attended this event representing manufacturing companies of raw materials and PVC product manufacturing companies.
ProVinilo Technical Forum
The first edition of this technical event was held on July 10 with the participation of around 150 people, mainly from the technical areas of the PVC product manufacturing companies. The topics presented were:
Thermal stabilizers for PVC
The use of biocides for PVC
Plasticizers
Bio-organic plasticizers
PVC agricultural applications
The success reached in this first edition makes us to consider organizing this event every year.
INFORMATION
The works for the creation of a specialized area in charge of preparing market surveys were started. This area will carry out research in various topics of interest for the chemical industry.
Sector Surveys
Sector surveys are developed for the Pigments, Resins, PVC and Adhesive manufacturers sections.
These surveys offer a product behavior framework to ANIQ members in various markets such as the domestic, import and export markets.
The Section of Chemical Products for Water Treatment completed the preparation of a directory compiled with detailed information on chemical products for water treatment of every company in the Section. The publication of this survey includes information on every company, products and makes; technical and safety sheets, as well as current regulations and pieces of information about water treatment.
This directory will be regularly updated to keep the information always current.
Strategic information
During regular meetings of the Manufacturers and Distributors Sections, the work agendas included presentations of relevant information mainly with respect to finished products markets, as well as general and technical information for the companies of the Section.
Among the topics presented are: raw material behavior, economic and political analysis, international trade, energy, transportation regulations, review of labor contracts, logistics and environmental regulations.
In like manner, discussion forums were coordinated with, among others, the following: PEMEX Petroquímica, PEMEX Gas y Petroquímica Básica, the Mexico City Water System; the Mexican Institute of Water Technology; the National Chamber of the Pharmaceutical Industry; the National Auto Parts Association; the National Chamber of the Oil, Grease, Soap and Detergents Industry, and Nacional Financiera.
INSTITUTIONAL REPRESENTATION
The institutional representation service allows companies to pose and jointly solve common problems of the various branches of the chemical sector established in Mexico.
Due to the global economic situation and the price volatility of raw materials, ANIQ represented a group of companies before representatives of the Comptrollership asking for the publication of guidelines with respect to multi-annual agreements for the benefit of the companies supplying sulfuric acid and aluminum sulfate to Pemex and Conagua, respectively.
By the end of 2008 the implementation of the guidelines published by the Ministry of Comptrollership was agreed upon, resulting in the restitution of differentials between market prices versus originally agreed upon prices.
With respect to regulatory matters, joint work was carried out with the regulatory committees that play a major role in the products of certain sections, such as product quality, automotive lubricants, water-proofing products, and buffer liquid standards.
A close follow-up was implemented for the resolution issued by the Ministry of the Economy with regards to the renewal of countervailing duties for ammonia sulfate from the US.
Membership and Regionalization
ANIQ's relevant representation in the Mexican industrial sector is a key factor allowing ANIQ to become the natural representative of the chemical industry before governmental and non-governmental organizations.
This year the membership program added 12 new companies of different sizes to the membership of the Association.
The regionalization program -whose purpose is to promote ANIQ and make its services public- covered the northern, central, southeastern and the Bajio regions of the country, visiting the facilities of nearly 35 companies located in these regions.
INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS
In the field of institutional relations, direct contact was established with entrepreneurial bodies representing the interests of the markets served by the various sections. This is the case of the chambers and associations representing the paint, packaging, construction, soap and detergent, plastic, auto parts, department stores and self-service sectors, among others.
With the purpose of spreading information on the market, ANIQ sponsored the World Adhesive Conference of the Adhesives & Sealants Council. ANIQ presented interesting information mainly on the Mexican adhesives market, its growth and circumstances.
The Distributors Section participated in the annual meeting of the International Council of Chemical Trade Associations and in the annual convention of the National Association of Chemical Distributors. At these meetings the results of the implementation of the Responsible Care Program and the progress achieved by the performance indicators in different parts of the world were presented.
In like manner, the relations with various consultant firms such as CMAI, Nexant, Deloitte, Accenture, and Texne were maintained.
COMMUNICATIONS
ANIQ's communications platform has had an outstanding performance, with constant updates. This enables ANIQ to have more efficient communication channels with members and customers.
It is important to highlight the performance of the IT Management Department that has maintained the operation of the computer network of the Association, offering quality programming and training services for all ANIQ staff.
Communications through printed material continue being a major area for ANIQ. Therefore, it is important to point out that the processes of the Design and Printing area, -in charge of the preparation of printed material- have consolidated giving ANIQ a competitive advantage in this field.
ANIQ considers the communications technology a key factor for the development of internal services and of the services provided to ANIQ member companies.
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