At a ceremony in Kunshan,
Chen received the UL WTDP certificate and certification plaque
from Ben Miller, UL senior vice
president and president, Commercial &
Industrial business unit.
“PPG and UL share a common mission, which is to provide safer living and
working environments for people worldwide,” Miller said. “This common goal
helped drive our collaboration, and it is
bringing more localized service to China’s
PFP coatings industry, enabling the industry’s continued health and development.”
The Kunshan passive fire protection
coatings center, opened in September
2014, is the first PFP coatings laboratory in Asia. The center is equipped with
melting furnaces for a variety of testing, such as simulating hydrocarbon or
oil-caused fire, compliant with the UL
1709 standard (Standard for Rapid Rise
Fire Tests of Protection Materials for
Structural Steel).
Benjamin Moore Awarded
Highest in Customer
Satisfaction by J.D. Power
Benjamin Moore ranked highest in
customer satisfaction with both interior paints and exterior stains by J.D.
Power. According to the 2016 Paint
Satisfaction Study, Benjamin Moore
achieved the highest numerical scores
over all other brands among interior
paints (836) and exterior stains (814)
on a 1,000-point scale.
“Benjamin Moore is proud to be rec-
ognized as the highest-ranking in custom-
er satisfaction for our paints and stains,”
said Mike Searles, pPresident and CEO
of Benjamin Moore. “We are committed
to developing the most innovative, best-
performing coatings that meet the needs
of customers, contractors and designers,
and this honor not only indicates the su-
periority of our products in the market-
place, but also demonstrates that only
Benjamin Moore can make the impos-
sible possible.”
J.D. Power measures customer satis-
faction in the interior and exterior paint
and stain market across six factors: ap-
plication, design guides, durability,
price, product offerings and warranty/
Additionally, the brand achieved the high-
est score in all six study factors within the
exterior stain brand segment.
The study is based on 16,128 responses measuring experiences and perceptions
of customers who purchased and applied interior paint and exterior stain in
the previous 12 months. Customers were
surveyed from January through February
2016. For more information about
the J.D. Power 2016 Paint Satisfaction
Study, visit www.jdpower.com/resource/
us-paint-satisfaction-study.
BASF’s Construction
Chemicals Division Expands
Production in Russia
BASF’s Construction Chemicals division
started with the production of waterproofing solutions from the MasterSeal
solutions range at its plant located in
Bolshoe Tolbino, Podolsk District. BASF
thus extends its portfolio of Master
Builders Solutions in Russia and enhances the supply network for regional markets and customers.
“We recognize the need for quicker
service and delivery of construction
chemical solutions in world-class quality,” said Ralf Spettmann, head of BASF’s
Global Construction Chemicals division.
“Our solutions and our experts are where
our customers are. We progressively expand our production and distribution
network in Russia and other markets
with excellent growth rates and prognoses,” Spettmann added.
At Podolsk, BASF is already producing a large range of concrete admixtures, flooring solutions, cementitious
grouts and concrete repair mortars. The
new production lines for MasterSeal
550 and 588 waterproofing solutions
address special needs like tolerance to
very harsh conditions (up to - 50°C).
They are, for example, used to protect
potable water reservoirs.
Sergey Vetlov, managing director of
BASF Construction Systems Russia and
CIS, said: “Local production allows for
more flexible pricing and delivery to
local customers compared to importing
products from production sites abroad.”
Furthermore, BASF will offer shorter lead
times as the plant is located in close prox-
imity to end users.
Besides the Podolsk site, BASF is producing construction chemicals in Russia
also in Kazan (Tatarstan) and is planning
to construct a third plant in 2017.
Axalta’s Support to Mother
River Protection Program
in China Continues for a
Second Year
Axalta Coating Systems has officially
launched Phase II of its ‘Axalta Forest’
program in China, in collaboration
with the China Youth Development
Foundation (CYDF). This marks the second year of its support to the Mother
River Protection project, which will see
15 hectares (approximately 37 acres) of
new forest planted in Uxin Banner, Ordos,
Inner Mongolia to counter desertification
and help water conservation.
On the day of the Phase II launch,
Luke Lu, president of Axalta’s Greater
China Operations, planted the first trees
of the Axalta Forest, along with a team of
employee volunteers. Lu stated, “We are
delighted to be supporting the program
for a second year, and to contribute to
the essential ecological restoration work
in Uxin Banner. At Axalta, sustainability
is central to virtually everything we do
as a coatings company. We have a long-
standing commitment to encouraging in-
novations that make our operations, and
the products and application systems we
provide to our customers increasingly en-
vironmentally responsible.”
Lu added, “Axalta and our employees
are also enthusiastic in helping the com-
munity in which we live and work. As
such, we have contributed to a number
of initiatives that promote environmental
protection and natural resource conser-
vation globally.”
Last year, Axalta committed to do-
nating one million RMB to support
CYDF for the Mother River Protection
program. The donation is used to plant
the ‘Axalta Forest’, with seven hectares
(approximately 17 acres) of new trees
having already been planted in the
