MOSCOW (MRC) -- AkzoNobel has broken ground on its new decorative paints site in Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province, China, as per the company's press release.
The facility is part of an investment in excess of EUR50 million to build manufacturing facilities for both powder coatings and decorative paints.
Located in Qionglai Yang’an Industrial Park, the new site - the company's fourth plant for decorative paints in China - occupies an area of 55,000 square meters. The first phase is scheduled to be opened in 2016, with full operations expected by 2017.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, AkzoNobel CEO Ton Buchner said: "Our investment in this new site is further proof of our ongoing commitment to China, which is one of our most strategically important markets. Establishing this new facility also gives added momentum to our organic growth ambitions, as well as enabling us to continue expanding our manufacturing footprint in Asia."
The new site will manufacture the full range of AkzoNobel’s decorative paint offerings and market them in China.
As MRC wrote before, AkzoNobel is investing more than EUR6.5 million in its Songjiang site near Shanghai to expand an existing research center by adding a dedicated facility for the company’s Performance Coatings businesses. Once completed in June 2015, the new development and application center will add capability and capacity to serve growing demand throughout Asia for innovative solutions targeted at the packaging, coil, specialty finishes and powder coatings markets.
AkzoNobel employs more than 7,400 people in China, including 500 in research and development. In 2013, the company generated revenues of EUR1.6 billion, the majority coming from local demand. Within Sichuan province, the company currently operates a regional office, powder coatings production site and a car refinishes training center, with a new powder coatings production site also under construction.
Akzo Nobel N.V., trading as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational, active in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 55,000 people.
MRC