An adventure forged by a bold strategy and a pioneering spirit
In the 1970s, the world fell in love with plastic and it became the most commonly-used material. In 1981, Guy Richard and Yvan Seignabou, the founders of Snetor, a French family company, were joined by Arnaud de Villeneuve. Together, they embarked on selling plastics.
Africa, cradle of the back-to-back adventure
Snetor soon forged a name for itself by boldly exploring markets generally overlooked by the competition.
In 1991, Emmanuel Aubourg joined the Group. In 2008, he became the company’s CEO and set out to the export business in Africa. The Snetor Chimie subsidiary was set up in 1998 to handle back-to-back operations: a winning strategy, judging by the Group’s success on this continent, where it currently has five offices.
Distribution launches in France
In 1992, drawing on its expertise in buying and reselling plastics in Africa, Snetor set up Snetor Distribution to develop distribution operations in France.
Thanks to its teams’ expertise and close customer relations, the Group kept pace with the changes in the market and become the leading distributor of plastics in France.
A winning all-encompassing approach in Latin America, subsequently extended to South Africa
In 2013, Snetor extended its sales presence in Latin America by expanding both its distribution and its back-to-back operations. In 2018, the Group carried out its first external growth operation by acquiring a 50% share in Eixo Brasil, one of the main polymer distributors in Brazil. Offices were opened – Snetor Colombia, Snetor Peru, Snetor Ecuador and Snetor Chile – consolidating the Group’s position among the main distributors in Latin America.
In 2023, the Group pursued its external growth in Central America with the acquisition of a 51% share in Coansa (Corporación andina S.A.), the regional leader in plastics distribution. This alliance subsequently gave rise to Coansa Snetor El Salvador, Coansa Snetor Guatemala and Coansa Snetor Costa Rica.
As part of rolling out its strategy, Snetor set up its distribution business in Africa and in 2017 opened an office in Johannesburg, South Africa. Other offices were subsequently opened with Snetor Maroc, Snetor East Africa, Snetor West Africa and Snetor Egypt.
Industrialising the sourcing strategy
Snetor began its trading and distribution operations with European petrochemical partners. The group then internationalised its supply sources in the late 1990s and concluded agreements with key stakeholders in Africa, the Middle East, South America and South Korea. Its expansion continued with the opening of an office in Houston in 2013, in Seoul in 2014 and in China in 2024.
Key figures
475
employees
110
logistics platforms
27
offices
300
producers partners
4
continents
+100
countries
Development of the European market
After gaining leadership on its legacy markets, particularly in France, Snetor set out to become a major distribution stakeholder in Europe.
From 2016 onwards, sales offices were established in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Iberian Peninsula, the Balkans and Romania.
In 2020, a partnership was formed with the Italian company Tecnopol. This was followed by the acquisition of the European plastics business of the French group Gazechim. Snetor became a pan-European stakeholder.
The shift to a circular economy
In 2019, Snetor launched Snetor Green, an umbrella brand drawing together the range of recycled, biodegradable, biosourced and mass-balance plastics.
In 2021, the CSR program was launched. A thorough evaluation of the Group’s carbon footprint was conducted in 2022 and numerous participatory projects were launched.
In 2023, quantifiable improvement objectives were defined and an initial non-financial report was published.
A transitional period heading for new horizons
The year 2021 was a turning point for Snetor as it celebrated its 40th year in business. To consolidate the Group’s brand identity, the subsidiaries changed name.
Names such as Snetor Distribution and Snetor Chimie evolved into regional or global commercial structures. Snetor Distribution became Snetor France, and Snetor Overseas took over from Snetor Chimie to underscore its commercial operations on the international market.
In 2023, Gazechim Plastics was renamed Ozyance.
This transitional period opened up new prospects for Snetor, in particular in the Middle East with the expansion of Snetor Middle East in Dubai and in Asia.
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