Bang & Bonsomer news

FECC Annual Congress 2-4 June, 2008

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:14:23 +0000

FECC ( The European Association of Chemical Distributors ) is the European voice of the chemical distribution and trading industry.

FECC Annual Congress is a 'must-attend' event for representatives from the chemical distribution industry, attracting over 400 senior industry players from throughout Europe as well as the USA, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Asia. The aim of the Membership meetings is to gather the Members and further discuss and decide on issues of direct influence and concern, while establishing a fruitful dialogue with representatives from the EU Institutions.

Johan von Knorring, President & CEO, Bang & Bonsomer Group and Chairman of the FECC Russia Round Table will be one of the Key Speakers on Annual Congress on Tuesday 3. June at first panel session on

•   Business Opportunities in the Central and Eastern European Countries
•   Cooperation and Partnership within the Chemical Supply Chain
•   Challenges and Hurdles to Overcome in the Russian Market

Bang & Bonsomer has donated the Christmas gift funds to charity

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:13:09 +0000

Bang & Bonsomer support the rights of the world’s children to the basic necessities of life. This year we have donated our seasonal gift funds to Plan Finland to support their work in reducing extreme poverty from the lives of children in developing countries.

Plan is one of the oldest and largest international development agencies in the world. Plan directly supports more than 1,300,000 children and their families, and indirectly supports an estimated further 9,000,000 people who live in communities that are working with Plan. Plan is independent, with no religious, political or governmental affiliations.

Merry Christmas and Thank You for the past year !

Mr. von Knorring participates in the HLG on Competitiveness of the European Chemicals Industry

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 09:56:09 +0000

FECC, represented by Mr. Johan von Knorring, CEO of Bang & Bonsomer, has been selected by Günter Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission, to participate in the High Level Group (HLG) on Competitiveness of the European Chemicals Industry. The inclusion of FECC in these high level political discussions is a recognition of FECC as a professional stakeholder in Brussels for the shaping of chemicals policy.

The HLG has been set up by the European Commission. Its aim is to conduct an analysis of the factors determining the changes in the chemicals sector, and the competitive position of the European chemicals Industry. Based on this analysis the HLG should formulate a set of sector-specific policy recommendations to enhance the competitiveness of the European chemicals Industry. The first meeting of the High level group on competitiveness of the Chemical Industry took place on the 10 September. The HLG will last until mid 2009 and there will be five meetings

FECC Working Committee: Russia Round Table

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 09:54:49 +0000

Early this year FECC (The European Association of Chemical Distributors) took an initiative to establish a working committee for discussing issues related to chemical trade with Russia. Most of the European distributors active in Russia have joined the Working Committee. The discussion on common issues and challenges has been constructive and in total compliance with the EU Competition regulations. Mr. Johan von Knorring, CEO of Bang & Bonsomer is the Chairman of the FECC Committee.

REACH

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:51:00 +0000

REACH entered into force on June 1, 2007. Bang&Bonsomer has followed and prepared for the REACH in many ways .

Because REACH implementation projects (RIPs) are under work and the electronic tool for managing enquiries still does not exist, there is no possibility to provide detailed information. Bang&Bonsomer intends to inform and deliver the necessary information to our customers as soon as possible and to ensure the implementation of the REACH requirement.

Contact person in our company regarding REACH related matters is:

Quality and Product Safety Manager Pirjo Tähkänen

Tel: +358-9- 681 08 221

Email: pirjo.tahkanen@bangbonsomer.fi

Challenging news from China

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 11:47:21 +0000

The Ministry of Finance and State Adminstration of Taxation has introduced new Chinese export VAT refund rates. The new export VAT refund rates reduction will come into effect on July 1, 2007.

The changes of the rates reduction can be categorised as follows:

In category A) export VAT refund rates changes to withdrawal of export VAT refund entitlement, in category B) as low as 5% and in category C) exemption .

It’s obvious that the changed export VAT refund policy will apply pressure on the cost competitiveness of the Chinese producers, who might have to absorb a part of the additional costs. Further pressure on the producers is coming from the re-evaluation of the RMB versus the USD.

We, however, believe that the Chinese producers thanks to modern and efficient production facilities will be able to maintain their cost competitiveness in the medium term, despite temporary challenges. Following substantial Chinese investments in world scale units we believe that the Chinese will remain competitive in many product segments.

Bang & Bonsomer Estonia awarded

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:31:22 +0000

Bang & Bonsomer Estonia has been awarded with a Certificate of being Successful Estonian Company 2006. The certificate aims at confirming the reliability of the successful Estonian companies to the companies’ partners, customers and employees. The certificate is issued by the credit information bureau Krediidiinfo AS which belongs to Experian Group.

80th Anniversary of Bang & Bonsomer

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 12:08:05 +0000

The 80^th Anniversary of Bang & Bonsomer was held at restaurant Pääkonttori May 24, 2007. Nearly 300 people attended the party. Among guest were customers, principals, partners in business, ambassadors and representatives of the embassies of China, Latvia and Estland . Paula Lehtomäki, Minister for Environmental Affairs of Finland, gave a speech. Some pictures from the party can been seen here. 80th Anniversary

Railway connection to Bang & Bonsomers’ central warehouse

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 11:36:00 +0000

The railway connection to Bang & Bonsomers’ central warehouse in Kotka, Finland was opened 15.5.2007. Now goods can be both received and dispatched directly from the warehouse premises without any additional reloading at external station. This solution is more cost-effective and save time and helps to reduce damages happening during reloadings. Railway connection will especially serve the far destination logistics.

Johan von Knorring becomes the Board Member of the Association of Finnish Technical Traders

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 13:50:00 +0000

Bang & Bonsomer Group’s CEO, Johan von Knorring , has been elected to the Association of Finnish Technical Traders’ Board.

The Association is the largest technical wholesale organisation in Finland. The Association consists of 22 sections of operation, i.e., branches of industry. The branches of industry represented by the Sections cover well the markets in Finland. The Section is a common organ for competing companies in the product sector concerned promoting the branch of industry, occupational safety and environmental issues as well as also otherwise supporting the companies in professional matters.

New ERP solution

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 09:05:00 +0000

The new business strategy of Bang & Bonsomer aims to manage the customer and principal interface more efficiently, to recognise new business opportunities as well as harmonise the company’s international operations. Implementing the changes required new, more effective tools. IBS provides the Bang & Bonsomer Group with an IBS-Enterprise 6.0 ERP solution which will support the new business strategy.

The system will be implemented this spring in Finland and Russia and later in 2007 in Bang & Bonsomer’s other offices in the Baltic countries, the Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. All countries will adopt the same, integrated system. However, national needs concerning, for example, legislation are also taken into consideration

New telephony solution

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:13:08 +0000

Bang & Bonsomer Helsinki and Bang & Bonsomer Estonia have invested in a new professional telephony solution (Alcatel OmniPCX Office) for better centralized call management. Alcatel OmniPCX Office system improves customer greeting and mobility and support also cost effective IP networking for voice and data. In the future it is planned to harmonize communication systems in the group level.

Bang&Bonsomer launched its new corporate website

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 06:58:00 +0000

Bang&Bonsomer Group launched its new website in January 2007.The new website will be first available in English (www.bangbonsomer.com) and then in Finnish (www.bangbonsomer.fi). Please take some time to visit the new website. We are happy to receive your feedback at company@bangbonsomer.fi

This year we celebrate our 80th anniversary

Mon, 01 Jan 2007 11:44:00 +0000

This year will be the 80th anniversary of the Bang&Bonsomer . As this anniversary approaches this spring, we will celebrate it with our customers in our traditional Flora party in May in Helsinki.

What is REACH!

Mon, 15 May 2006 07:27:00 +0000

REACH is a new regulatory framework of the European Union. It covers the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (=REACH).

The aim of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through a better and earlier identification of the properties of chemical substances. At the same time, innovative capability and competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry should be enhanced.

The REACH proposal has passed the European parliament’s first reading and the EU Competitiveness Council has reached a political agreement on the regulation. There will still be a second reading during Finland’s presidency in the end of 2006. It is expected that the regulation will take effect during 2007 after which the registration process will start and take up to 11 years.

The regulation proposal covers around 30 000 substances presently on the market. These substances must be evaluated and registered by the end of 2017 in order to ensure their further use on the EU area. The consumption and marketing of the most hazardous substances will become subject to licence.

The REACH-Strategy of Bang & Bonsomer

Bang & Bonsomer is on group level prepared to meet the REACH challenges

A group task force has been established and meets regularly
The IT-system is being developed to fulfil the REACH requirements
At the first stage mapping and comparison of registered products and available product data is being done in cooperation with suppliers and principals
Special focus will be given on raw materials from outside the EU, e.g. from the Far East
Future sourcing strategy will consider requirements of the REACH regulations.

Further information

Further information concerning the activities of Bang & Bonsomer as far as REACH is concerned will be given by Pirjo Tähkänen, Quality and Product Safety Manager.

Telephone Int + 358 9 681 08221
e-mail pirjo.tahkanen@bangbonsomer.fi

New board member

Mon, 01 May 2006 10:01:00 +0000

At the ordinary shareholders' meeting in April 2006 Mr.Yrjö-Pekka Rautalahti was appointed as a member of the Board of Bang & Bonsomer Group Oy.

At the ordinary shareholders' meeting in April 2006 Mr.Yrjö-Pekka Rautalahti was appointed as a member of the Board of Bang & Bonsomer Group Oy.Mr. Rautalahti is working as a Director, Emerging Markets Strategic Development at UPM Kymmene. Over the last 20 years he has gained experience working in leading positions in the operational- , marketing- and development of business operations both in Finland and overseas at UPM-Kymmene as well as it’s predecessor companies. Mr. Rautalahti holds a M.Sc. (Physics and Paper). Additionally he has carried out MBA Studies. Mr.Rautalahtis’ knowledge and experience will provide us support and special know-how especially when we are looking for new ways and possibilities to develop our business operations.

Mr.Rautalahti has been acting in several Positions of Trust outside his working life, from which the most important at the moment are the tasks of President of EUCEPA (EUCEPA comprises 14 national technical associations of the pulp and paper industry in 15 European countries) for years 2006-2009.