Coatings World - October 2009

Fresh Paint

units and the merger of two others.

Due to come into effect on January 1, 2010, the planned changes include the creation of a stand-alone Wood Finishes and Adhesives business and a restyled Industrial Coatings business, while the company’s Polymer Chemicals activities will be merged into the Functional Chemicals organization.

Wood Finishes and Adhesives will comprise the company’s current wood finishes and wood adhesives activities, bringing more focus to this market, while Industrial Coatings will be made up of the present Packaging Coatings, Coil Coatings and Specialty Plastics operations, creating a more logical combination of AkzoNobel’s industrial OEM businesses. In addition, in order to benefit more from their inherent technology and supply chain synergies, AkzoNobel Aerospace Coatings will transfer from Marine and Protective Coatings to Car Refinishes.

The new structure will see Bob Taylor, currently managing director of Industrial Finishes, become managing director of Marine and Protective Coatings, succeeding Bill McPherson, who is due to retire in April, 2010. John Wolff, currently general manager of the Coil Coatings business, will become managing director of the new Wood Finishes and Adhesives business. Conrad Keijzer, currently managing director of Packaging Coatings, will be managing director of the new Industrial Coatings business.

The merger of Polymer Chemicals into Functional Chemicals is designed to create a stronger, more cost-efficient business better equipped to sustain future growth. Bob Margevich will continue in his role as managing director of Functional Chemicals and will lead the new business once the activities are combined. Alan Kwek, managing director of Polymer Chemicals, will

continue to be responsible for the Polymer Chemicals business until the end of 2009. Kwek, who has been with the company for more than 20 years, has announced that he will then leave AkzoNobel to return to Singapore.

NATIONAL PAINTS ENTERS INDIA National Paints, based in Amman, Jordan, is entering the Indian market setting up a factory in Angamali Industrial Area, near Kochi, Kerala. The newly set up state-of-the-art plant with a daily production capacity of 1, 20,000 liters was inaugurated by Kerala State Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem September 12, 2009. National Paints has set up its Indian subsidiary National Paints Factories (India) Private Limited to launch operations there. The plant provides direct employment to around 150 people.

CALIFORNIA PRODUCTS ACQUIRES PROGRESS PAINT BRANDS California Products Corporation, an Apollo Capital Management portfolio company, has acquired the customer base and certain assets of Progress Paint Manufacturing Company. The acquisition includes certain Progress Paint brands and product lines including Gray Seal, Fixall, Duralux Marine and other associated lines. Progress Paint, founded in 1912 and headquartered in Louisville, KY, manufactures paints and coatings that are sold exclusively through independent dealers in over 20 states. This past spring, Progress consolidated its Gray Seal and Kurfees brand under the Gray Seal Paint label.

FORD APPROVES PPG SX1071 LOW-VOC ETCH PRIME Ford Motor Co. has approved PPG’s new SX1071 Etch Prime for use in warranty repairs for its vehicles.

SX1071, part of the OneChoice product line from PPG, is a low-VOC two-component acid etch primer specifically designed to provide excellent adhesion and corrosion resistance to properly prepared steel and aluminum surfaces while offering fast-dry characteristics. SX1071 joins many other PPG products approved by Ford, including refinish coatings from the Global Refinish System, Deltron and NEXA Autocolor coatings lines, all of which may be used in combination with SX1071. SX1071 is a 5. 5 pounds-per-gallon product compliant with the low-VOC auto refinish regulations originating in California. Similar regulations are in effect in Canada. SX1071 features a fast-dry formula and secure adhesion to most metal substrates.

TAIWAN SHOE MAKER
SELECTS VICOTE COATINGS

To enhance the performance of its shoe molds, Du Wei Enterprise Company of Taiwan, chose Victrex’s Vicote Coatings, a tough, high wear-resistant coating. Based on Victrex Peek polymer, a high performance thermoplastic, Vicote Coating has a lifetime of up to 1.5 months (about 5, 000 cycles) which is 30 times greater than PTFE, according to the company.

Used to produce shoes made of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) resin, the 2- color shoe molds are subject to extreme high temperature and aggressive environment, placing