Specialty chemical company Clariant announced today that its Textile Chemicals Business Unit (BU) will relocate its headquarters to Singapore. Clariant says, the move, which is due to be completed by mid 2011, places the Textile Chemicals BU management team at the heart of the world’s main textile markets and closer to its global customers.

The new Singapore headquarters will accommodate the entire senior Textile Chemicals BU management team together with the global textile application technology team. Meanwhile, the application development laboratory for technical textiles and finishing will be relocated to Muttenz, near Basel, Switzerland together with the BU’s dedicated European sales and marketing operation, which comprises approximately 60 people.

“Singapore is the optimum location from which to serve the key global textile markets across India, China and South East Asia. Positioning our management team close at hand will further strengthen our customer relationships and enhance our ability to respond quickly to the trends of this dynamic sector,” comments Thomas Winkler, Head of Clariant’s Textile Chemicals BU.

“At the same time, Europe remains an important market for Clariant and our European textile customers will continue to be served by our dedicated, well-established infrastructure located in the region.”

Clariant is one of the leading manufacturers of textile chemicals and textile dyes. It offers comprehensive integrated ranges throughout the whole textile value chain for all segments of the modern textile finishing industry, including dyeing and printing, fibre, finishing and pre-treatment.