AkzoNobel has announced its plans to invest a further EUR 65 million in China. The investment will be used to boost capacity and significantly improve operations at AkzoNobel’s Surface Chemistry manufacturing sites in Boxing and Ningbo.
More than half the money is being invested in the company’s facility in Shandong province, which was taken over as part of the acquisition of Boxing Oleochemicals in January 2012. As well as building a multipurpose reactor to expand local production capacity for amines, significant funds are also being made available to align HSE practices at the site with the rest of AkzoNobel.
In Ningbo, a new alkoxylation unit will be built, bringing the total investment at the multi-site close to the EUR 400 million mark.
“There is increasing demand for our specialty surfactant products across Asia and investing in Shandong province will ensure that we provide a strong local manufacturing operation in order to support our customers as they themselves continue to grow”, said Mr Werner Fuhrmann, AkzoNobel’s Executive Committee member responsible for Specialty Chemicals. “Ningbo also remains fundamental to our growth ambitions in the region and has a crucial role to play as we continue to expand.”
