Repsol Química has three manufacturing centres located at Puertollano, Tarragona and Santander. The former two are highly integrated in Repsol Petroleo's refining and base-petrochemical complexes. This confirms why more than 80% of the raw materials used in derivative chemicals come from sithin the same Repsol Group.

Repsol Qu�mica has several subsidiary companies, through which it has access to other additional chemical plants, smaller in capacity as they target the higher added-value speciality products. These are Polidux at Monz�n in Huesca, where technical-plastics are made such as ABS, SAN and expandable polystyrene, Repsol Polivar at Pomezia in Italy and Repsol Bronderslev in Denmark, for the production of polymethyl methacrylate and General Qu�mica at Comuni�n in Alava, where fine chemical products are manufactured such as accelerators and anti-oxidants for rubbers, pigments and sodium sulphate. Repsol Qu�mica is also partner with the Algerian National Petrochemicals Company (ENIP) in Polymed. Polymed is constructing a high density polyethylene plant at Skikda (Algeria), which will be largely targeted at the highly promising north African market.

Products manufactured are classified into two broad categories: polyolefins and petrochemicals.

It should be emphasised that Repsol Qu�mica's strategy, to ensure sustained competitiveness for its materials, has led to the development of many specialised products based on commodities. These are modified materials having improved properties for special applications by selected converters.

In Repsol Qu�mica todays, these speciality chemical products represent 20% of total business volume and 30% of the polyolefin's segment. These percentages continue to rise every year.

Customer service

Repsol Qu�mica has customers throughout the world in more than 80 countries. This is the result of the company's clear international vocation. Whilst the scope of Repsol Qu�mica's market is global, bearing in mind the company's financial-size, company-culture and experience, the company's principal market is clearly within the European Union. Approximately 80% of the company's sales are aimed at this geographical area.

This outcome has been possible mainly thanks to our effective customer service organization. This is estructured in two areas:

• Sales network.
• Technical service.

Countries where Repsol Qu�mica has its own organisational structure are highlighted on the map. Reinforcing this direct commercial line, an elaborate network of sales agents has been developed to ensure Repsol Qu�mica's presence in those countries where distance has forced the company to undertake this type of representation.

The opening of the Buenos Aires office, in combination whith the office already in place in Mexico, is Repsol Qu�mica's first step in having an active presence in Latin America, and this is directly in line with the Repsol Group's spectacular increase in investments in that continent.

Technical Service

Repsol, the leading Spanish Group in the chemicals and energy sector, and one of the one-hundred major corporations world-wide, maintains this privileged position by endeavouring to satisfy customers' needs and bay finding new markets.

Whithin this customer-orientated strategy, Repsol's chemicals sector organised from its very beginnings a Technical Service and Development Centre. This centre has two laboratories, one is located in Madrid and attends to the two areas of polyolefins and intermediate products. The other is in Santander, inside the synthetic rubber manufacturing plant. The main activities of the Technical Service and Development Centre (TS & D) are specified in the following table.

TS and D Main Activities

From a geographical standpoint, the speed and safety of the actual communication system enables Repsol Qu�mica to meet, from these two centres, the requirements of all the countries where the company has some commercial presence. At the same time, this centralisation helps in strengthening the structure of these laboratories in such a way that, all applications can be dealt with within a common technical environment, and that in itself leads to greater coordination, and further understanding and knowledge of any matters of concern.