One P13-Global

N°13 | Q1 2023

CONTRIBUTED TO THIS ISSUE

Alain Germeau, Benjamin Verhulst, Benoit Leleu, Beth Allen, Bistra Todorova, Brieuc Geuzaine, Caroline Elaerts, Frédéric Gevers, Geoffrey Close, Guy Clerdent, Jared Walsh, José Di Puma, Julien Fulchiron, Kelly Stefani, Kim Temmerman, Laura Lamour, Lieve Huysmans, Marc Collin, Michel Masson, Phillip Dersham, Pierre Schils, Quinn Banaszewski, Ruben Gonzalez, Stefan De Kerpel, Stefan Dimov, Tom Slegers, Veneta Dimitrova, Xander Staquet

EDITORIAL COORDINATION

Clara Dethioux

EDITORIAL MANAGER

Corine Petry

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Content

Edito

04 After a year of increased profitability in 2022, new challenges and opportunities in 2023

06 Prayon’s acquisition of Febex unlocks the electronics market

09 Safety puzzle

10 Technophos opens its doors to employee families

11 Best Dam Ride: Prayon Inc pedals for a good cause

12 Making our plants more reliable so that they can create extra value

16 Capterall®: a complete production process at Zeoline

18 2022 DHL Brussels Ekiden attracts a record number of participants

22 Spotlight on some of our new Prayon colleagues

Edito

Dear colleagues, We kicked off 2023 in style by finalizing the strategic acquisition of Febex – a purchase which will help us tap into the bullish electronics and pharmaceutical markets. As such, we are gradually implementing our roadmap for 2022–2025.

This year, 2023, will again no doubt be marked by plenty of uncertainties as a result of international tensions. Some commentators are even talking about the possibility of recession. In this light, our teams are continuing to take the long view and look ahead! We are shoring up our supplies of raw materials for the months ahead and making sure we have hedges in place to control our energy costs.

However, there are also some things we can be sure about: the second line of EMAPHOS will launch in the middle of the year, and our plans to make Prayon a company that creates longterm, sustainable value remain intact. In doing so, we want to keep building on our excellent 2022

financial results, and in doing so boost the level of investment in our facilities.

As you go through this issue of OneP, you’ll find that our teams, whether bringing the acquisition of Febex to a successful conclusion or playing their part in the Prayon Asset Excellence project to improve the reliability of our facilities, are more committed than ever. These are just a couple of examples of key ways to make sure that we can continue delivering on our promises and keeping our customers happy.

By working on this all together, we can move forward and shape the Prayon of tomorrow. Thank you to all our teams for your dedication, day in, day out!

Enjoy the magazine!

Marc Collin Chief Technology Officer

After a year of increased profitability in 2022, new challenges and opportunities in 2023

The beginning of the year is traditionally synonymous with financial analysis of the previous year’s performance and the outlook for the new one. Guy Clerdent, Chief Financial Officer, gives us an overview of 2022 and puts the spotlight on 2023.

2022: overall good performance and improved margins

Based on the results achieved in 2022, which were much better than those initially budgeted, we redrafted a new estimate of the results at the end of 2022, called Revision 2. The improvement in results compared to the initial 2022 budget, which forecast a cash flow of €38 million, resulted in a cash flow of €140 million at Revision 2, which is more than the initial budget but also an improvement compared to previous years. “A significant improvement! But essential to ensure Prayon’s long-term viability by generating sufficient cash to finance rising costs and development projects,” says Guy. In terms of sales volumes, 2022 was marked by very strong demand at the beginning and second half of the year,

with a reduction in customer purchases due to the impact of the energy crisis, but also, at the end of the year, due to the competition, who were more aggressive in terms of sales prices. Production volumes were within budget. In fact, despite a reduction in sales volumes at the end of 2022, we have decided to build up stocks (in particular in MAP) for 2023 in order to be able to meet the (partly seasonal) demands of customers.

“In terms of pricing, Prayon’s reliability as a supplier enabled us during 2022 to increase sales prices above and beyond the increase in costs, which allowed us

to increase our margins both in relation to the budget and in relation to previous years,” explains Guy.

“Globally in 2022, we, all together did a good job throughout this special year. The cash flow is line with Revision 2, i.e 140 million€. We can clearly confirm that 2022 was the year of recovery for Prayon, which allows us to face the future with more confidence!”, relates Guy.

The sales of Purified Phosphoric Acid in Europe. Margins are significantly higher compared to budget and previous years

Evolution of the margins on variable costs e/t P2O5

A budget 2023 taking into account key trends

“The budget for 2023 is based on key assumptions considering some evolutions, trying to incorporate developments as best we can. We are trying to anticipate the impact on Prayon and limit certain risks”, informs Guy. As regards fixed costs, which rose sharply in 2022 following indexation, we are expecting inflation to continue in 2023, but it’s not easy to estimate the extent of this and its impact on our costs.

In recent months, we have experienced an increase in interest rates. We have therefore budgeted for an increase in financial expenses (interest paid to the banks) but this increase could have been even more significant if we had not converted a large part of our debt from variable to fixed rates.

Energy prices are also a key element.

In recent months, energy prices in Europe have been very high and could rise further in the second half of 2023. We have therefore locked in the price (and much of it when prices were much lower) by buying a significant portion of our 2023 gas requirements in advance from both Engis and Puurs and Augusta.

While the recent trend is downward for certain materials (fertilizer acid and phosphates in particular), the prices of other raw materials (NaOH, KOH, NH3) have risen sharply in recent months, but the supply/demand balance is changing. In order to anticipate these

changes as closely as possible, we are monitoring the market, remaining agile and working closely with the sales teams by communicating changes in our cost prices as quickly as possible.

As far as sales prices are concerned, we capitalize on the fact that Prayon is a reliable supplier that customers can rely on to maintain sales prices and margins. Nevertheless, we are keeping an eye on the competition and are ready to act with the aim of optimizing the value margins that result from the best balance between sales volumes and margins per ton.

In terms of sales and production volumes, we have decided to be ambitious and to plan in the 2023 budget for volumes in line with the 2022 achievement. However, due to the risk of recession, we have included in the budget a provision to cover the potential impact of this recession on our sales, i.e. an impact of - €25 million corresponding to a 10% drop in the level of activity compared with the budget assumptions.

Investing in our future

On the basis of all these assumptions, the 2023 budget foresees a cash flow of € 102 million. Taking into account that part of the very good results of 2022 is cyclical, the cash flow of the 2023

budget is lower than in 2022 but higher than in previous years thanks to a structural improvement in our profitability.

Aiming far and high, this cash flow will be reinvested to prepare for the future. We will finance the Febex acquisition, invest in the SHMP project as well as in Puurs in new tanks in the PPA storage to facilitate the logistics in the wake of the mid-2023 start-up of EMAPHOS II. We have also significantly increased capital expenditure on maintenance and profitability.

In conclusion, 2023 is a challenging year. The major investment projects planned will contribute to improving our profitability and to continuing our developments to build our future.

Budget 2023 -MBA

Prayon’s acquisition of Febex unlocks the electronics market

Prayon recently acquired from Arkema 97% of that company’s shares in Switzerlandbased Febex, a European market leader in phosphoric acid for use in electronics. This key acquisition will give us access to markets where Prayon previously did not have a presence. We met the man who orchestrated this operation, Chief Technology Officer Marc Collin.

Why did you buy Febex?

“This project represents a key step forward in our efforts to consolidate our position in the phosphorous chemistry segment. It sees the Prayon Group making a move into electronics, a market with high growth potential in both Europe and the United States, as well as pharmaceutical applications.”

What are the benefits of this acquisition for Prayon?

“Febex produces phosphoric acid using a purification process that is complementary to ours. The aim is to obtain extremely high levels of purity for use in particular in the electronics market and the pharmaceutical sector – two growing markets where we can establish ourselves more

quickly than if we’d had to develop the know-how by ourselves. It will also, thanks to Febex’s existing portfolio of customers, help us break into the polyphosphoric acid market and so expand the range of industrial solutions downstream of the production of purified phosphoric acid, in which Prayon continues to lead the way in Europe.”

What does Febex do?

“Febex is the European leader in the production and marketing of electronics-grade phosphoric acid used, for example, in the manufacture of printed circuits or semiconductors. With its ultra-pure phosphoric acid and its state-of-the-art facilities, the company also offers solutions that meet the most exacting standards of the pharmaceutical industry. It has also developed a range of sodium hypophosphite which is used to nickel-coat various parts of automobiles and hard disks. It employs almost 60 people and generated sales of €32 million in 2021.”

Which everyday products use its solutions?

“They tend to be used to support customers’ production processes. In electronics, for example, they’re involved in engraving the printed circuits used in computers.”

What are the growth prospects for the electronics market?

“Good: 7–8% annually. During the COVID crisis, the electronics market experienced a boost, because everyone needed computers to work from home. What’s more, in 2021, China closed its borders for some products. This made the European authorities in particular wake up to the fact that there was a need for certain products to be made locally rather than continuing to rely on China. As a result, Europe has decided to make a lot of investments which are set to be finalized.”

Had you ever worked with Febex before?

“We had some R&D contacts when we tried to develop our electronics-grade acid. Before this acquisition, they had supplied us with polyphosphoric acid which we used for biammonium activities. We also collected pickling acids from Febex and recycled them at Prayon.”

We’re delighted to have joined Prayon and we look forward to the Group’s future synergies, with phosphorous chemistry taking center stage!

- Didier Le Vely, CEO of Febex -

In what ways is this acquisition a team effort?

“When you acquire a company, a lot of things have to be checked. First, a technical team visited the facilities. There were also discussions between Febex management and our strategic marketing and commercial representatives. After that, we moved on to the financial aspect by checking Febex’s accounts and the estimated value of the company. We also had to conduct an environmental audit, check that Febex was complying with the rele-

The financial teams’ work was spread over various stages. Initially, in collaboration with the technical teams, we devised a blueprint to understand Febex’s activities (i.e., volumes, materials ratios, and so on) and their profitability. This blueprint was then used to draw up our business plan so that we could estimate the acquisition value of Febex and present the dossier to our Board of Directors for its approval of the acquisition. We also analyzed the accounting position of Febex to confirm its financial health, value, and future potential. Finally, we prepared the funds to pay Arkema and finalize the acquisition.

- Pierre Schils, Financial Director, and Guy Clerdent, CFO -

vant permits, that it wasn’t involved in any outstanding disputes, and so on – due diligence, in other words. Last but not least, there was the legal aspect: checking the company’s articles of incorporation, compliance with competition rules, and drafting the contract governing the sale of the shares. I was like a conductor overseeing a team in which everyone played their part in their field of expertise.”

What synergies are there in the area of sustainable development?

“Febex is working on the thermal process, while we’re focusing on the wet process. The idea is to determine which Febex products can be produced using the wet process rather than the thermal process as previously, with a view to reducing the company’s environmental footprint. We’re also going to investigate potentially recycling their by-products in our facilities. Another idea is to recover used ac-

ids from Febex customers and look at the impurities in these acids, and then treat these acids so that they can be re-introduced into the Prayon customer cycle. Remember: our technology has to make the difference!”

What, in your view, are the keys to success in an operation like this?

The legal team was actively involved in negotiating and drafting the purchase contract and its many annexes, so protecting Prayon’s interests in the acquisition process and obtaining guarantees that Febex will remain a going operation in the years ahead. Through our regular meetings with lawyers from Switzerland, we also made sure of compliance with Swiss law, and secured from the Swiss authorities the authorizations required to complete the transaction.

- Frédéric Gevers, General Counsel, General Secretary and Brieuc Geuzaine, Legal Counsel -

“First, you have to define a clear strategy: what were our objectives in making this acquisition? Then you need a lot of patience, as this can be a long process –more than 18 months in this case. Also everyone in the team needs to shoulder their responsibilities in their area of expertise. You need to be disciplined: there are a lot of documents to read carefully, because the devil may be in the detail. We’re delighted to see our efforts paying off! Many thanks again to all the teams!” Welcome

to the Febex teams! This acquisition consolidates our position as a player in the phosphorous chemistry segment!

- Geoffrey Close, CEO of Prayon -

Technophos opens its doors to employee families

Last September, Technophos was very happy to welcome about 50 people who came to discover our working environment.

- Bistra Todorova, Administration Manager -

“What does my mother, father, daughter or son do while working at Technophos?” That’s the question our relatives may ask themselves. To answer this question, Technophos came out with the idea of organizing an open house for employees’ families. Through a guided tour of the site, they discovered the chemistry and the world of phosphates.

“Last September, Technophos was very happy to welcome about 50 people who came to discover our working environment”, says Bistra Todorova, Administration Manager. They were welcomed by the COO (Chief Operating Officer), Veneta Dimitrova. “After a short but very important introduction on safety, the tour could start”, informs Veneta.

Anton Milev, Process Engineer, then explained in a very educational way what Technophos does as a semi-industrial test center and above all explained its strengths. At the end of the activity, the visitors had to answer a quiz about the link between chemistry and Tech-

nophos’ activities and needs. Thanks to the explanations, it was easy for the participants to give the answers.

Of course, the visitors could not leave Technophos without visiting the laboratories. Some safe experiments were organized to show the little ones the magic of chemistry, such as coloring different solutions, making reactions to release CO2 and thus to blow up balloons. “It was a great moment that made many of the guests smile”, recalls Bistra. At the end of the visit, everyone had the chance to see the fancy needles of our pure gypsum on one of the microscopes.

To thank everyone for their time and presence, a lunch was offered! The discussions during the meal closed this interesting day! The photos and smiles will leave a pleasant memory for the participants!

- Stefan Dimov, Maintenance Manager -

After this event, we feel even closer and had the opportunity to meet the respective families! It reinforces the feeling of belonging to the same family!

Best Dam Ride: Prayon Inc pedals for a good cause

Last October, Prayon Inc sponsored six employees (Aaron Smith, Arnaud Duvivier, Amelia Greco, Laurent Beckers, Phil Dersham, and Elliott McCaskill), each along with one immediate family member to participate in the Best Dam Ride.

The Best Dam Ride is a casual bicycle ride for cyclists, open to everyone regardless of their ages and experience levels. Each year, hundreds of cyclists meet at J. Strom Thurmond Dam to experience a group bicycle ride that travels around the Clarks Hill Lake, which covers three counties and loops through both Georgia and South Carolina.

At this man-made lake, the view is breathtaking. The cyclists could enjoy it through their selected distance and tour: either on the road or by trail.

Riding was not only for fun but also for a cause. All profits were donated to local charities. This year, one of the chosen associations was Liam Caracci Foundation. This association provides comfort to parents who experienced stillbirth and infant loss.

After effort, comes comfort! At the end, all the participants gathered around a lunch. The event made our

Prayon colors and value ‘We aim together’ shine. It brought camaraderie and many good memories for these employees and their families.

My father-in-law came all the way from Pennsylvania to ride with us! It was a chilly start, but we all had a great time on the trail and enjoyed the beautiful scenery!

- Phillip Dersham, ESH Manager -

Amelia Greco, Arnaud Duvivier, the father of Amelia and Aaron Smith

At the end, all the participants gathered around a lunch Laurent Beckers

Phil and his family

Making our plants more reliable so that they can create extra value

One of the objectives of the Prayon Asset Excellence (PAE) project is to guarantee the reliability of the Group’s production facilities. Established in 2021, the Asset Management Department, in close collaboration with the local teams at each Production site, works day to day on making this mission a reality. So let’s find out how!

“The PAE project brings together all the initiatives related to the implementation of best practices in asset management, covering the processes of maintenance, reliability, management of investment projects, and so on,” explains José Di Puma, Asset Management Director. Another of its objectives is to standardize processes, methods, and tools across all the plants. “Since September 2021, analysis of the maturity of each plant’s maintenance processes has highlighted the potential for significant progress to be made on reliability. We’ve made this one of our priorities.”

Various reliability assessments have been carried out on the production

sites. The idea was to understand which mechanisms cause equipment to fail, and to establish the root causes of these malfunctions. This information should be used as a basis for corrective, preventive, or improvement measures to prevent these failures upstream.

At Engis, reliability engineers joined the Maintenance teams, with their primary focus being placed on the Sulfur & Energy Department (S&E). At Puurs, reliability engineers and asset managers worked on systematizing the relevant methods and developed handy tools, which it will be worth extending to the Group’s other plants. “The site is currently optimizing monitoring plans

Obviously, the more reliable the plants become, the more our performance levels should improve, as should the company’s results.

- José Di Puma, Asset Management Director-

for storage tanks, with a view to averting potential failures and determining their remaining service life, and so predicting when they will need to be replaced. At Les Roches, root cause analysis, or RCA, has been carried out and an Operator Vigilance plan is being implemented for the stainless-steel Daphné line. At Augusta, a Reliability Engineer position has been created and training is under way with a view to rolling out reliability engineering as soon as possible. Obviously, the more reliable the plants become, the more our performance levels should improve, as should the company’s results,” concludes José Di Puma.

Engis

Benjamin Verhulst, Reliability Engineer, and Michel Masson, Head of the Maintenance Expertise Unit, talked to us about reliability on the Engis site. “The focus was on S&E’s Sulfine unit and, above all, on the HRS tower, a facility which was hit by a major breakdown in autumn 2021. A ‘comprehensive inspection plan’ was developed and implemented during the annual shutdown. These inspections made it possible to analyze the ‘health’ of the equipment, and to work out the preventive interventions that needed to be carried out. A new technique has been introduced to perform internal visual inspections at the HRS tower. This involves using a drone,

RCA case study: the HRS pump

which is much safer for our personnel. Of course, the impact of these approaches will be seen in the long term, by monitoring, for example, the availability rate of the equipment (i.e., the percentage of time when the facility was technically available for production). Since the annual shutdown, there’s been a marked improvement in productivity, and we’ve had the longest period without a shutdown for ages! We’ll go into more detail about the deployment of reliability at Engis in a future issue of OneP.”

Les Roches

Julien Fulchiron, Maintenance Manager at Les Roches, and Benoit Leleu, Technical Services Manager, tell us more: “The reliability of the Hagan production line had become a priority following the technical problems encountered with two pieces of equipment: the disk, with several rollers breaking, and the crusher, with the failure of the transmission shaft. These problems kept happening, leading to significant production losses, and so we started using the RCA problem-solving methodology on this equipment. This methodology involves identifying, with the help of a multidisciplinary

group (Maintenance, Manufacturing/Production, and Process), the root causes with a view to finding appropriate solutions. Coming together around a problem allows us to agree on and better understand the sequence of events. This methodology meant that we managed to better identify the problems and carry out modifications, eliminating any issues with these two pieces of equipment.”

Team meeting between Maxime Hernandez, Raphaël Radoux, Sebastian Spiga, Benjamin Verhulst, Michel Masson and Marc Grifnée

Louis Saunier and Julien Fulchiron with an example of RCA

Puurs

For years now, the Puurs site has been a byword for reliability. After all, remember that part of our business operates 24 hours a day. Unscheduled downtime must be avoided at all costs, as this could both disrupt the whole production process and have financial consequences. Therefore, regular inspections are carried out. During one such inspection, it was found that the feedwater pumps for the deaerator in the cogeneration (WKK) facility had become eroded. Taking action to address this was essential to stop the facility breaking down due to a lack of steam. To avoid any danger, the pumps had to be replaced by finding a material (not cast iron) that does not face this kind of problem. After analysis, stainless steel was chosen because of its resistance to erosion. Stefan De Kerpel, a Reliability Engineer, explains: “In the future,

Augusta

Ruben Gonzalez, Technical Services Manager explains: “One of the first tasks we have been working with our new Reliability Engineer, Mills Briggs, is to define our top performance killers. In the case of Augusta, one of those issues has been the finished product bag packaging equipment. Our reliability Engineer is working with Electrical and Instrumentation technicians and equipment vendors to perform RCM/FMEA (Reliability Centered Maintenance / Failure Mode & Effect Analysis) on maintenance strategies or plans.”

we definitely want to develop this type of preventive maintenance and proactive inspections. We should tackle problems proactively so that we need to put out ‘as few fires as possible.” According to Lieve Huysmans, another Reliability Engineer, “reliability engineering isn’t something to be done on your own; instead, solutions are found and results achieved by working together. We live in a time when everything is in flux. The ongoing advances in technology also create new possibilities in terms of reliability, with, for example, robots being used to measure the thickness of tank walls!”

Stefan De Kerpel and Lieve Huysmans

The pumps before and after

Mills Briggs and Abel Villalobos, E&I Technician, discussing a RCA

Capterall®: a complete production process at Zeoline

Acquired by Prayon from the Solvay Group in 2021, the Capterall® process offers an efficient solution for cleaning up industrial water. The relocation of the production equipment to the Engis site was completed in October 2022. The next step is to now install this machinery, with a view to manufacturing the product in-house in 2023.

As you may recall, this solution involves using a calcium phosphate powder or slurry. Once mixed with wastewater, the product will absorb the heavy metals contained in industrial wastewater. In 2021, Solvay sold this technology to Prayon, as well as some of the equipment for producing it. Ahead of the relocation of the machinery, Solvay had committed to supply a certain quantity of products during 2022 so that

Prayon could respond satisfactorily to customer requests.

“The production facilities were transported gradually from Spain by truck. This was a real challenge, for both Prayon and Solvay, all the more so because it had to be done in a relatively short time,” explains Alain Germeau, Vice President Development Projects at Prayon and Technology Transfer Manager.

A new production capability for Zeoline

The move was finally completed in mid-October 2022. Since then, the team has been working on installing all the equipment in the Zeoline unit on the Engis industrial site, with a view to launching production in-house from 2023.

Alain Germeau, Nicolas Haby, Denis Cobut, and Xavier Wattiez, all participants in the Capterall® project

Pending the start of production, the Research Department already managed to manufacture some slurry in 2022. “Around 40 m³ was sold to one of our three customers,” says Alain. “While we haven’t fundamentally changed Solvay’s production method for the solution, certain production parameters have been adjusted and Prayon can now control them more effectively.”

Zeoline was fitted out with a dryer and a buffer tank to enable powder production to begin in January 2023. In a second phase, the reaction tank and the relevant associated equipment will be put in place by June 2023. The Engis site will then be able to produce powder and slurry independently, without going through R&D. This component is being coordinated by Nicolas Haby, Project Manager in the Research, Technology, & Growth Division.

Solvay, Prayon’s best customer

After acquisition of the Capterall® technology, collaboration between the Solvay Group and Prayon has continued. As agreed, Solvay kept delivering the product to Prayon during the transition period, even beyond the originally scheduled end date. Solvay will go on prospecting for customers for a few more years yet on behalf of Prayon, in exchange for a share of the sales. This resulted in a new customer becoming part of the Prayon portfolio in 2022: the Solvay Tavaux production site, in France.

Solvay Tavaux’s business is based on manufacturing fluorinated chemicals

and specialty polymers. “The company intends to double its production capacity by 2024,” adds Alain. However, to achieve this goal, it had to find a solution to the problem of fluoride discharges into its wastewater. “These were at the limit of what was allowed by legislation, which therefore prevented the company from increasing its production,” explains Alain. By conducting tests himself, the Environment Manager at Solvay Tavaux established that the Capterall® process made it possible to capture this fluoride in the company’s industrial effluents. The plant therefore ordered large volumes of the product, becoming Prayon’s biggest customer for this technology in 2022. “Paradoxically, the Solvay Group has never used as much Capterall® as they have since they sold us their technology,” says Alain with a smile.

An unexpected showcase of the circular economy

This discovery was rather unexpected, because the process was originally designed to capture heavy metals, and fluorine isn’t one of them. What makes it all the more interesting is that the elements captured at the end of processing by Solvay Tavaux can be re-used by the Prayon Group’s plants.

Specifically, the calcium phosphate will absorb the fluorine in the Solvay wastewater, yielding, after decantation, a wet calcium phosphate solid loaded with fluorine. “Now, this solid can be recycled in our own plants, probably mixed with the PRAYROCK produced at Puurs, to remanufacture phosphoric acid at P2. This will ultimately result in the production of

Capterall®,” explains Alain. “We’re currently running tests in collaboration with Solvay Tavaux, and we hope to be able to quickly implement this process that showcases the circular economy.”

Offering service

Beyond selling the product, Prayon is, in the future, looking to compile plans to install the system at customers’ premises – a system which will be integrated into existing or dedicated treatment units. As every case is different, specific support will be given to individual customers, and the expertise acquired will allow us to demonstrate that our technology makes the difference!

Photos of the large-scale relocation

2022 DHL Brussels Ekiden attracts a record number of participants

At 1 p.m. precisely on Saturday, October 22, 2022, the starting gun was fired. After warming up, participants were cheered on by spectators as they competed in a relay marathon that lasted through the afternoon. The sun was out again for this 18th DHL Brussels Ekiden, held at the King Baudouin Stadium.

A relaxed atmosphere did not stop Prayon staff giving their all to try to come out on top in our company rankings.

Prayon’s participation breaks new records

Prayon was strongly represented among the 824 teams who registered, contributing no fewer than 11 of the teams at the starting line. Ahead of them lay a 42,195-km verdant and undulating relay course, featuring highlights such as crossing the parkland of the Royal Do-

main of Laeken and views of the iconic Atomium monument.

After all that exercise...

You know what happens next! Once the marathon is over, our runners have only one thing on their mind: to stay hydrated.

After the race, as has become an annual tradition, everyone got together for a drink near the King Baudouin Stadium to debrief on their performance and their experience of the race. They then went

to enjoy a hearty gourmet meal together at Bobbies, a restaurant in the nearby town of Wemmel.

You can find all the photos of this wonderful day on our intranet!

We hope that even more of you will be at the 2023 Ekiden, more motivated than ever to embark on this athletic and above all human adventure, providing opportunities to meet colleagues from every part of our company and share an unforgettable day!

We will let you know more about this event during the summer. Until then, feel free to put on your sneakers and get training!

WHAT WERE THEIR TIMES?

See which teams participated and their times in this relay marathon.

3:28:43

SPEEDY SALT & ACID

Jean-Christophe Guyon, Danny Aelewaters, Olivier Clarysse, Nick Thienpont, Christian Vogt and Lies Quintellier

3:32:54

3:35:29

3:29:02

PRAYON S&P

Christian Vogt, Julien Degives, Arnaud Dossogne, Charlotte Delrée, Marion Demortier and Benjamin Robert

3:45:06

PRAYMOBIL

Valdinéia Da Silva Lemos, Stéphanie Motten, Artium Belet, Sébastien Leruth, Thomas Remacle and Brieuc Geuzaine

TAZOTEAM

Aurélie Lauvaux, Hubert Halleux, Geoffrey Delorge, Alexandre Wavreille, Hadrien Leruth and Olivier Zeleznick

3:35:56

PRAYON P2SFi

Gabriel Biondolillo, Michael Cazella, Patrick Alloo and Arnaud Pipers

PTA & CO

Michel Wéber, Pierre Sibret, Marion Demortier, Damien Niessen, Nicolas Matagne and Vincent Mathelot

3:53:54

GREEN HOT CHILLY COLLEAGUES

Anne-Cécile Van Meenen, Richard Lecocq, Julia Presnova, Anna Pawelczak and Georges Cechagias

OUFTI

Gautier Lefèvre, Véronique Bodson, Dave Pinxteren, Gabriel Biondolillo, Frédéric Martens and Xavier Barthélemy

4:10:45 4:15:18

CAPTERALL

Bruno Turrioni, Geoffrey Close, Juan Pascual, Jonathan Nurkowski, Renaud Kersten and Denis Cobut

PRAYON ROCKETT

PRAYGIRLS

Sylvie Michel, Caroline Elaerts, Martine Tossens, Catherine Lecoq and Jennifer Demeyere

SAVE THESE DATES! SAVE THESE DATES!

Prayon Inc. + Commercial subsidiaries:

June 7, 2023 June 7, 2023

Technophos:

June 9, 2023 June 9, 2023

We’re getting ready for Safety Day 2023. We’re looking forward to lots of you coming along to see and participate in the workshops!

Here are the hazardous situations we identified…

Did you spot any others?

1. This person is welding near flammable products!

2. This person is working on a pipe that hasn’t been LOTOed or purged.

3. This person is leaving a collective protection area and entering a hazardous area where a robot is moving around.

4. This person is performing an intervention inside a tank (confined space) without any safety measures.

5. This person isn’t handling chemicals correctly and doesn’t seem to be properly protected (not wearing PPE).

6. There’s been an explosion, but this person doesn’t seem to be properly protected (not wearing PPE).

7. This person should have used scaffolding or a cherry picker instead of a ladder.

8. This person is moving a non-compliant scaffold while a colleague is on it!

9. This person is walking under a load. Instead, pedestrian zones must be used where they exist and are marked out.

10. This lift-truck operator seems to be going very fast at an intersection, and the forks on the lift are dangerously high!

If you want to use these images, for example for a five-minute safety meeting, you can find them here.

Spotlight on some of our new Prayon colleagues

Jared Walsh Information Security Analyst Jr.

My role: I work with the IT teams in all locations to remediate vulnerabilities and threats, found in our network. I also analyze incoming alerts regarding potential breaches and stop any threat actor from interfering with business operations. I am involved also in projects to harden our systems, not just for security reasons, but also for protecting the business from unnecessary outages.

My passion: It is hard to be working in cybersecurity and not have a passion for it, so I for sure have a passion for cybersecurity and all things related. I am a very devout Christian and I am heavily involved in my Church. I also enjoy time with family and friends, whether it just be talking or doing something fun.

A thought to share: I am excited to be on this team at Prayon and take my career further. I am extremely thankful for this opportunity.

Augusta Puurs

My role: I coordinate work preparation and mechanical maintenance. I try to organize maintenance and repairs as efficiently as possible, including the preparation, execution, and administrative processing of these activities.

Quinn Banaszewski Mechanical Engineer

My role: As a Mechanical Engineer, I work for the Projects Team underneath Evan Moore. I will assist in the design, implementation, and start up of future projects for the Augusta Site. I am mainly involved in the mechanical elements of the projects.

My passion: I love sports and playing basketball. The sport has been a part of my entire life. I also enjoy working on cars, building computers, and playing games.

A thought to share: I am very excited to be working at Prayon! The people I have gotten to interact with so far have been very welcoming and helpful. I am looking forward to building more relationships and a future with this company.

My passion: My main love is soccer – I play every week. So count me in for this year’s soccer tournament!

A thought to share: Before this, I always worked abroad. So I sometimes use an English term instead of Dutch (or French), as is the norm here at Puurs.

Xander Staquet Maintenance Manager

Les Roches

Laura Lamour Customer Quality Coordinator France

My role: I’ve been Customer Quality Coordinator France in the France commercial team at Les Roches since early October. I’m responsible for complaint handling and customer quality, and I also oversee the monitoring of indicators and KPIs, and the internal action plan. I’m currently still training, but when I’ve finished that, my duties will expand to cover such areas as regulatory monitoring and customer satisfaction.

Engis

My passion: I’m devoted to my family and in particular my two children. I’m involved in their school not only as a parent but also as chair of the parents’ association, with a particular focus on making sure that our kids can go on school trips.

A thought to share: Coming from the pharmaceutical industry, this work is a real challenge, as it involves a change in job type and the kind of department. And I’m really up for that. There’s a really great atmosphere in my team.

Kelly Stefani Production Administrative Assistant Tom Slegers Assistant commercial junior

My role: In my role as Administrative Assistant in the Food and Technical Phosphates team, my main duties are entering and monitoring data on production and recycling in SAP, as well as KPIs.

My passion: I love the 1950s – the vintage cars, the pin-up fashion, the rockabilly music... I go to as many ‘retro’ meetings as I can to find out more and discuss this passion with fellow enthusiasts with a particular connection to that decade or who immerse themselves in the ‘50s way of life. It’s a period which is right up my street and brings out the best in me.

A thought to share: Before joining the big Prayon family, I worked in the medical sector. In my three years at Prayon, I’ve discovered how this is a company that operates on a human scale and I have very fond memories of each of my teams and of my colleagues.

My role: As a Commercial Assistant, my job is to help the three key users of customer service who are involved in the S/4HANA project. I support them in their work, so that they can devote the time needed to the project. Entering orders in the system, dispatching various documents, and taking care of customer relations are an integral part of my day-to-day work.

My passion: I’ve always been passionate about sport: I currently work out and play basketball. I’m also a voracious reader and love watching TV series.

A thought to share: I’ve fitted into Prayon really well: my colleagues helped me a lot from the start and I feel very much part of the team. It’s my first job, and I’m delighted to now be a member of the Prayon family.

Put June 23, 2023 in your diaries already!

Who can unseat the P2 team as champions? Will we have more mixed teams this year? Will we beat last year’s turnout?

EVERYONE IS WELCOME, WHETHER YOU’RE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE TEAMS OR SUPPORT THEM!

More information will be coming soon on the organizational and training arrangements for the teams. Looking forward to seeing you there!

The soccer tournament is making its return to Engis!