Akzo Nobel N.V. (AkzoNobel; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) has completed the expansion of its Industrial Coatings site in Songjiang near Shanghai in China, doubling annual production capacity and creating the company’s biggest plant for packaging coatings in the world.
Work started in 2012, when around €14 million was invested in the facility to add production lines for packaging coatings and epoxy and polyester resins. Now said to be the largest site of its kind in the region, Songjiang will serve growing consumer demand from a number of key markets.
The Songjiang facility employs around 300 people and houses AkzoNobel’s largest research and development center in China. The company is also expanding its activities in other parts of the country, with work ongoing at sites for powder coatings and decorative paints in Chengdu, a combined investment of €50 million in one of the fastest growing regions in China. In addition, a new regional office for western China is being inaugurated in Chengdu this week, which will house employees from several coatings businesses.