Completion of its Malmö Terminal upgrade signals new business thrust for MBS Nordic

A business unit of Royal Vopak, one of the world’s largest chemical distribution groups, MBS Nordic has just completed an upgrade of its terminal at Malmö, Sweden. The terminal serves as a key despatch point for the company’s Nordic network and is able to receive shipments by sea and by land. The upgrade involves the addition of a new loading area, which will significantly improve efficiency as well as better serve the company’s business growth projection.

“We are the regions biggest distributor of chemicals and this investment is an important step in our thrust to develop our position as a truly Nordic operation. Having the right infrastructure and resources in place to support that drive is essential,” explains Mike Cope, Commercial Director, MBS Nordic.

MBS Nordic AB is a new name for a chemicals distributor with a 120-year record of service to industries across the Nordic region, consolidating the expertise of MB-Sveda AB, Sweden, Svedakjemi A/S, Norway, Svedakemi ApS, Denmark and MBS Suomi OY, Finland, under the trading name of MBS Nordic.

Each company is a well-established distributor in its own market. Linkage under the umbrella of MBS Nordic, and backed by the global expertise of parent Royal Vopak, the company is well positioned to drive further growth through a broadening supplier base, and a common product basket for the region, as well as additional customer-valued services.

According to Cope chemicals are not the only opportunity for growth. “Outside the chemicals arena we are working hard to expand the speciality element of our business. The distribution of natural food ingredients to compliment our solid and substantial base in the distribution of food chemicals is a clear example of the development opportunities now available to MBS Nordic. Utilising the specialist knowledge of Fiske Food Ingredients, a sister company within the Royal Vopak group, we are building on this synergy to provide both a comprehensive and differentiated product solution for our food ingredient customers, as well as a valuable upstream service to our suppliers.”

Currently the MBS Nordic portfolio of suppliers including many of the industries global leaders, such as Akzo Nobel, BP Amoco, Clariant, Dow and Great Lakes Chemicals.

“The ongoing development of our supplier base is key to the value we deliver to customers as it extends the solution possibilities we can bring them. For example, we have recently won the distributionship for Huntsman Surfactants, plus the Air Products range of epoxy hardeners, which are complementary to our existing portfolio of Dow Chemicals epoxy resins.

“To be truly effective we need to be able to offer the full range of product choice to our customers throughout the Nordic region, therefore it’s necessary to aim for a common product basket. So our new product acquisition policy is to focus very much on those suppliers that are seeking a pan-Nordic approach,” says Cope. “Developing long-term strategic relationships with these companies, many of whom are existing suppliers, is essential.”

While stressing the importance of the company’s breadth and depth of its product listing, Cope says that the service support provided by MBS Nordic is of equal importance. “We have an immense pool of knowledge and chemicals handling expertise that not only enables us to help customers with product selection, but also allows us to support them with services that span customised product mixes to specialised environmental advice,” he says.