Fresh Paint
industrial and architectural markets,
as well as color delivery service where
small batch color matches are provided within 48 hours. ChemPoint will
provide marketing, technical sales,
personalized customer service and
order fulfillment for Interpon customers across the U.S.
BASF EXPANDS IN MIDDLE EAST
Through the Glaurit brand of auto
refinishes, BASF has expanded its presence in the Middle East. The coatings
firm recently opened two paint and
body shops in the Sultanate of Oman on
the Arabian Peninsula. One of the two
new Glasurit customers is the Sayarti
Bodyshop in Muscat, Oman’s capital.
The shop belongs to Sayarti LLC, with
whom BASF Coatings has been working in a close partnership for several
months. The other customer is BMW
Muscat, which uses the Glasurit 90 line.
France, several smaller production, laboratory, warehouse and distribution facilities. PPG said a broad reduction in
employment across the company globally will result in about 2,500 jobs being
eliminated. “These are sweeping steps
that will impact all of PPG’s business
segments and regions,” said chairman
and CEO Charles Bunch. Bunch said the
largest portion of the cost reduction
activity will take place in the company’s
automotive OEM coatings and industrial coatings business units, which have
been particularly hard hit by severe
declines in global end-use market
demand.
BASF RECEIVES
SUBARU SUPPLIER AWARD
BASF Coatings North America has
received a Subaru of Indiana Automotive
(SIA) Supplier Award. The award was
presented to Juan Carlos Ordonez, group
PPG TO CUT 2,500 JOBS
IN RESTRUCTURING
PPG said it will cut 2,500 jobs in a
restructuring plan aimed at saving $140
million annually. The plan is expected to
cost the company approximately $160
million in cash, it said. A further charge
of up to $50 million is possible later this
year as the evaluation and approval of
other elements of the restructuring plan,
including additional plant closures, are
finalized, PPG said. The first-quarter
charge includes the cost of closing a paint
manufacturing operation in Saultain,
AKZONOBEL QUALIFIED BY
CHINESE AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURER
China’s largest aircraft manufacturer,
Xian Aircraft Corporation (XAC), has
qualified two new products from AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings. The Eclipse
range of polyurethane topcoats, along
with 10P20-44 epoxy primer, have met
the standards of XAC’s new XMS 1622
and XMS 1623 specifications. XAC manufacture a range of different civilian and
military aircraft, including the twin
turbo prop Modern Ark 60 (MA60). The
company also produces components for
both Boeing and Airbus. Working in close
partnership with XAC and their coatings
distributor in China, Argosy International, AkzoNobel has supplied
Eclipse for many liveries on XAC aircraft
now operating in the Asia Pacific region.
vice president, and Joe Schmondiuk,
global account director for BASF
Coatings North America by Masahiro
Kasai, SIA president and CEO during a
ceremony held in late February at the
Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre
Hotel. BASF, which has supplied paint to
SIA since summer 2008, received this
award because of its performance and
support during SIA’s recent conversion
from solventborne to waterborne paint.
“BASF and Subaru worked together
under an extremely aggressive timeframe to convert the plant from solvent
to water, from shut down to full production start up, within two weeks,” said
Schmondiuk. The standard timeframe
for such a conversion is several months.
DATES SET, JUDGES NAMED FOR 4TH BENJAMIN MOORE HUE AWARDS
Architects and interior designers who posses a passion for using color—and
have a portfolio of projects to prove it—are invited to submit their work in the Benjamin Moore HUE Awards. In
its fourth year, the competition, which recognizes exceptional use of color in architecture and interior design, will
begin accepting submissions May 1, 2009, with an
October 9, 2009 deadline. There is no fee to enter; down-loadable entry forms and instructions are available only
at www.benjaminmoore.com, after April 1.
DUPONT VP SAYS ECONOMIC CRISIS
WILL BRING PERMANENT CHANGES
TO TITANIUM DIOXIDE INDUSTRY
New economic realities resulting from
the global recession will permanently
change the business landscape, a
DuPont vice president told business
leaders at TiO 2009.
2
“Although it is difficult to predict when
global economies will rebound from the
current downturn, the new economic
reality will force major industries to permanently change the way they operate,”
said Richard Olson, vice president and
general manager, DuPont Titanium
