Coatings World - July 2011

Hempel expands in India

Hempel is expanding its operations in the Indian subcontinent. With the opening of a new manufacturing unit in Nashik, Maharashtra, Hempel is strengthening its manufacturing capabilities and presence in the Indian subcontinent. The company also plans to invest approximately € 15-20 million in a greenfield project over a period of three years.

Expansion in the Indian market is an
important element within Hempel’s busi-
ness strategy, One Hempel – One Ambi-
tion. “We are excited to expand our
presence in the Indian subcontinent and
supply not only India, but also Sri Lanka,
Bangladesh, the Maldives and Nepal,”
said Kim Junge Andersen, CFO, Hempel.
“We’ve had very positive experiences with
our organization in India and the new
plant will significantly boost our ability to
serve our growing customer base in this
region.”
The new plant will feature the latest in
environmentally friendly coating produc-
tion equipment, including a semi-auto-
matic powder handling system, an
automatic liquid dosing system and a sol-
vent recovery unit.

Designed to house raw materials and the finished product under one roof, the one-building factory is spread across a 1,500 square-meter plot. Under one shift operation, the factory will produce 1.5 million liters annually. If further capacity is required, the factory can operate with two shifts to raise production capacity to 2.4 million liters.

The factory is fitted with the latest manufacturing equipment designed for maximum productivity. The bar code system installed in the factory will enable faster traceability of raw materials and finished goods.

“India is a very important market for
Hempel and the expansion will fast-track
our growth in the region,” said Umesh
Singh, director, Hempel South Asia. “While
Hempel already has a large share of the
global market in segments including wind
turbines, cranes and infrastructures, India
has also seen rapid growth in these seg-
ments. We look forward to supplying the
protective and marine coatings to the grow-
ing markets for these segments in South
Asia. In these markets, our goal is to double
our 2010 turnover to above € 18 million by
2013, and to triple turnover to more than
€ 25 million by the end of 2015.”
The Denmark based multi-national
company, Hempel is in the midst of a
strong growth strategy. The company has
also recently acquired Crown Paints Ltd.,
a leading UK-based decorative paints
company, and established manufacturing
plants in Russia and Argentina.

International Paint opens fire protection laboratory International Paint’s protective coatings business opened a £ 6. 4 million (€ 7.1 million) testing laboratory for fire protection products at its Felling, UK site. “The new facility significantly improves our ability to develop and bring new fire protection products to market,” said Dipak Mistry, technical manager for International’s protective coatings business.

International is the leading supplier of fire protection coatings, used to protect steel structures such as commercial buildings and oil and gas installations, with its Interchar and Chartek brands. The fire protection market is growing rapidly due to increasingly stringent fire protection regulations worldwide, and forecasters expect demand to double by 2018, the company said. International has supplied fire protection solutions for buildings including The New York Times Building in the U.S., the Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore and the Victoria Hospital at Kirkcaldy in the UK.

The new laboratory will complement International Paint’s current fire protection capabilities, which include structural and fire engineering experience, estimation expertise and corrosion performance knowledge. By integrating into design contract chains and working alongside owners, architects, design engineers and steel fabricators, International draws on these resources to offer a broader fire protection service than just coatings supply.