Jotun Builds First Brazilian Factory
Norwegian paint
major focuses on
marine and
protective coatings
growth.
by Charles W. Thurston
Latin America Correspondent
thurstoncw@rodpub.com
The Jotun Group, of Sandefjord, Norway, is constructing its first Brazilian factory at Itaipuaçu, in Rio De Janeiro state—
also its first in Latin America—to better serve
the growing maritime coatings market there.
The Brazilian maritime coatings market as a
whole is estimated at about $45 million, according to Ferran Bueno, the managing director
of Jotun, in São Gonçalo, across the bay from
Rio de Janeiro. “The aim is to have strong
growth in marine and protective coatings business in the country,” he said.
The new factory will produce 10 million
liters per year of marine coatings and protective
products once completed in late 2013, but plans
exist to increase production five-fold if market
demand presents itself, a Jotun executive told
the Brazilian press in early August. For now,
production at the new facility is expected to be
consumed entirely in Brazil, Bueno said. The
company maintains offices and a warehouse
nearby in São Gonçalo.
Brazil has been expanding its maritime fleet
as well as its oil and gas rig fleet, inspired by recent discoveries of pre-salt oil reserves off the
shore of Santos state, adjacent to Rio de Janeiro.
Onshore and offshore equipment involved in
sub-salt oil production require special corrosion
protection coatings. The Associação
Brasileira de Corrosão, the national corrosion
association, recently published findings that the
application of appropriate corrosion protection
in Brazilian industry saves 75 percent of the cost
of replacement due to corrosion.
Jotun in 2008 signed a contract with state oil
company Petrobras’ Transpetro unit to supply
about 250,000 liters of dry dock coatings per
year for fleet maintenance. Transpetro has a fleet
of 52 vessels, and 26 more have been ordered.
Brazilian law requires Petrobras to maintain a
70 percent local content percentage within supply chain requirements.
In June of last year, Petrobras awarded GE
Oil & Gas a $120 million, four-year service contract for repair, maintenance and retrofitting
Petrobras’ fleet of subsea equipment in the Campos Basin. This year, GE plans to open a $100
million investment Global Research Center in
Rio de Janeiro.
“[Jotun’s] new factory
will produce 10 million
liters per year of marine
coatings and protective
products once completed in late 2013, but
plans exist to increase
production five-fold if
market demand presents itself...”
A recent study by Universal Consensus indicated that Petrobras plans to spend $224.7 billion in their supply chain during the 2011 to
2015 time period, as the company aims to triple
its oil production by 2020 from its current 2.1
million barrels per day. Petrobras’ latest new
business plan, in July 2011, called for “ 16 floating production and offloading platforms and/or
modules and 28 offshore drilling rigs, which are
currently being re-tendered,” the consultant reports. By 2017, the company expects to have at
least 63 drilling rigs, and will continue to operate the world’s largest offshore rig fleet.
Apart from oil and gas-related vessels, Brazil
is expanding its navy. In January, BAE Systems,
based in Arlington, Va., won a £133 million contract to supply three ocean patrol vessels to
Brazil, along with ancillary support services. The
contract includes a manufacturing license that
will permit additional vessels of the same class
to be built in Brazil, BAE indicates. CW
