Coatings World - March 2014

BASF is expanding its business in industrial coatings in the growth market of Africa. Since October 2013, the company has supplied coil coatings to Roofings Rolling Mills (RRM), located in Uganda. BASF and its technical service were also on hand when the new coil coating lines were put into operation.

RRM is part of the Roofings Group, East Africa’s largest steel producer. At its site in Namanve Industrial Park, RRM operates three production lines with an annual capacity of 240,000 metric tons. BASF has supplied a Pevicoat mixing unit, based on site at RRM. The Pevicoat unit is a computer-assisted paint mixing system that can mix any color and gloss level within a very short time.

“With RRM, we have succeeded in gaining an important long-term partner, which will allow us to continue to grow in this key region. Africa is an attractive market for our industrial coatings,” said Phil Green, business development manager BASF´s Coatings division. “For RRM, robust products with high quality and excellent service are crucial. Thanks to our team from Vanderbijlpark, we can guarantee this.” The coatings and the service are provided from BASF’s site in South Africa.

“The African market does play a key role not only in the BASF strategy, but especially in the future growth plans of the Industrial Coatings Solutions unit of BASF,” added Nils Lessmann, BASF business manager Precoatings EMEA.

The rise of African markets is a result of increasing population and urbanization rates as well as consumer spending, Therefore, BASF aims to further expand the local presence in Africa and tap new long-term business potential.

Coil coatings are used to coat alumi-
num and steel coils before they are pro-
cessed further into an array of different
products in the construction, household
appliance and automotive industries.
These products range from refrigerators
to building façades. Since the panels are
stamped, rolled and joined, the coating
has to be extremely flexible and elastic
so that it does not flake off. At the same
time, however, it has to meet the require-
ments for scratch resistance.

RRM has invested $125 million in the site in Uganda, including for the coil coating line. The company also acquired technical support from its Japanese partner Yodogawa Steel Works and uses its technologies. Yodogawa Steel Works has produced coated coils for 75 years

Hempel Opens New
Factory in Saudi Arabia

Strategically located in Jeddah, Hempel’s first waterborne factory in the Middle East will help meet the growing demand for Hempel decorative coatings in the region. The new plant, located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, will manufacture paint for the decorative coatings segment and will supply the entire Middle Eastern market. Besides being Hempel’s second factory in Saudi Arabia, it is also Hempel’s first 100 percent water-based production facility in the Middle East, as well as its largest decorative factory in the region. The 7,500 square meter facility is a culmination of the company’s efforts to further strengthen its leadership in the Saudi market. According to Pierre-Yves Jullien, Hempel Group president and CEO, the factory was built in Jeddah due to its strategic proximity to global sea lines and to the sea port located in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).

“We are confident that the new plant
will help us meet the growing demand for
our coatings and further reinforce our
leadership in the region,” said Karsten
Pedersen, group vice president, Middle
East (West). “The Jeddah factory will
manufacture products for the entire
decorative market. The variety and color-
richness of our coatings will surely meet
consumers’ needs and preferences.”
The plant will feature the lat-
est in coating production equipment
technology, including powder silos, au-
tomatic filling, automatic palletizing
and automatic transfer of pallets to the
finished goods warehouse. With a pro-
duction volume of 32 million liters per
year and an investment value of more
than € 19 million, the plant will secure
a large number of job opportunities for
the region. Hempel CEO Pierre-Yves
Jullien, Hempel chairman Richard Sand,
the Danish Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Ole Frijs-Madsen as well as government
officials, customers, suppliers, staff and
media attended the opening of the plant.
The launch also coincided with Hempel’s
40th anniversary in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia.

Axalta Coating Systems
Begins Third Year of $32
Million Investment Program
in Brazil

Axalta Coating Systems will begin the next phase of construction to significantly expand its waterborne production capacity at the company’s operations in Guarulhos, Brazil. The 2014 construction represents the third year of a $32 million investment program. The additional facility will more than double capacity to more than 4. 5 million liters ( 1. 2 million gallons), which will meet the demands of automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in South America where increases in the car parc are forecast to continue. The additional production is expected to come on line in 2015.

The Guarulhos plant is Axalta’s largest manufacturing facility in Latin America. The plant supplies customers in Brazil, where Axalta is already the largest automotive coatings supplier to OEMs, as well as customers in Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia. The new facility will produce waterborne coatings, complementing the on-going manufacture of quality products for customers in refinish and industrial segments that will continue to be produced at the Guarulhos location.