As We Go To Press
AkzoNobel’s Ningbo plant starts production
Production recently started at AkzoNobel’s chelates facility located at the
company’s new €275 million multi-site
in Ningbo, China. The start-up of the
first activities in Ningbo means that
AkzoNobel is now the only major producer of chelates with plants in
Europe, North America and Asia. New
ethylene amines and ethylene oxide
factories are also due to begin production at the site in 2010, followed by an
organic peroxides facility.
“China is a key market for us and the
Ningbo site will enable us to better serve
customers throughout the Asia Pacific
region,” said Rob Frohn, the AkzoNobel
board member responsible for specialty
chemicals. “Growth in the emerging mar-
kets is fundamental to our strategy and
Ningbo will play an important role as we
look to further boost our presence and
capabilities.”
The formal inauguration of the Ningbo
site, which occupies a 50-hectare plot and
offers ideal opportunities for any future
investments, is expected to take place in
late 2010 once the new ethylene amines
facility is on stream.
AkzoNobel has more than 6,000
employees and 25 locations in China,
with annual revenue of approximately
€1 billion (2008).
emerging industrial markets.
ABAKAN INVESTS IN
NANOCOMPOSITE CERAMIC
METALLIC COATINGS TECHNOLOGY
Abakan Inc. has entered into an invest-
ment agreement with MesoCoat, Inc.,
an Ohio-based advanced nanocompos-
ite ceramic-metallic (cermet) coatings
company and Powdermet, Inc., its
majority shareholder. MesoCoat is
building a diversified, patented prod-
uct platform that consists of environ-
mentally-friendly coating compositions
and methods of applying coatings to
large surface areas. MesoCoat was
formed in 2007 to develop and com-
mercialize its line of proprietary
nanocomposite coating materials, and
its fusion application technologies
licensed from Oak Ridge National
Laboratories. The investment agree-
ment requires a series of investments
over time the first of which has caused
Abakan to acquire a non-controlling
interest in MesoCoat. CW
Index to Companies
This index gives the starting page for a department or feature with
a significant reference to a manufacturer of paint, coatings, adhesives and
sealants. Subsidiaries are indexed under their own names.
VICTREX EXPANDS
GLOBAL FOOTPRINT
Victrex Polymer Solutions, a division
of Victrex plc, a provider of high per-
formance polymers including Victrex
Peek polymer, Vicote Coatings and
APTIV films, has appointed Padmini
Petroplast Pvt., Ltd. as its distribu-
tion partner in India. Victrex is
entering the India market in an
aggressive strategic move designed
to expand the company’s global foot-
print and extend market reach into
one of the world’s most rapidly
Advanced Polymer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
