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AkzoNobel Plans 29th Plant in China

Monday, October 31, 2011

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AkzoNobel will further expand its already-large aerospace and automotive coatings footprint in China, as the company races to achieve $3 billion in Chinese revenues by 2015.

The world’s largest paint and coatings maker has announced that it will invest €60 million (about $42.4 million US) in a new plant to increase the production capacity of its Automotive and Aerospace Coatings business.

AkzoNobel

AkzoNobel aims to draw $3 billion in revenues from the Chinese market by 2015.

The manufacturing facility—AkzoNobel’s 29th in China—will also strengthen the company’s position in China’s fast-growing automotive refinishes market.

Demand Doubling

The plant announcement follows AkzoNobel’s September 2010 acquisition of Changzhou Prime Automotive Paint Co. Ltd., one of China’s largest vehicle refinish suppliers.

Based in Jiangsu Province, Prime Automotive develops, manufactures, markets and distributes automotive coatings, primarily for the refinish market. The company is a leader in the mid-market segment, which is expected to double within the next five years.

In addition to the new production facility, AkzoNobel will build related warehousing, quality control laboratories, support facilities and offices on the new site. The project will increase capacity by about 25 million liters (about 6.6 million gallons US) once production begins in early 2014.

‘Capture Our Share’

“The automotive and aerospace market in China is forecast to further increase steeply in the coming years, and this investment will allow us to capture our share of this growth,” said Jim Rees, Managing Director of AkzoNobel's Automotive and Aerospace Coatings business.

“Changzhou is the ideal location for this facility, as there is a good infrastructure already in place and it is ideally situated in the coatings 'center' of China, with close access to many of our customers.”
 
AkzoNobel currently employs about 6,700 people in China, where its 2010 revenues totaled €1.3 billion (about $1.8 billion US), most of it from local demand.