Akzo Nobel Establishes New Chemical Plants in East China

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Dutch chemical company Akzo Nobel (Amsterdam, Holland), a leading chemical company in the world and also a Fortune Global 500 company, made an announcement that it would invest $337 million to establish two more chemical plants in Ningbo city, Zhejiang province, East China. The first confirmed investments in the new multi-site were established in Ningbo by the Azko Nobel.

These two new plants will focus upon the production of ethylene amines and chelating agents respectively. The ethylene amines plant is expected to be put into operation in 2009, while the chelating agents plant will open at the beginning of 2010. The two plants will level their European and American counterparts in terms of production scale and technological level. Production facilities for major raw materials will be built as well.

Akzo Nobel has already set up two plants in Ningbo city focusing upon the production of polymer chemicals and coatings respectively before the establishment of these two new chemical plants.

This multi-site is expected to cover an area of 50 hectares and absorb hundreds of millions of investment. It will become Akzo Nobel’s largest production base in the world once built. It’s also one of the largest foreign investments in Zhejiang province.

Ningbo was picked as the location for Akzo Nobel’s largest production base for three main reasons: (1) the strong support from Ningbo municipal government; (2) the fact that Ningbo is an important port city in China; and (3) Ningbo also has Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Company, Limited, China’s largest refining and chemical company, whose ethylene project with an annual production capacity of 1 million tons is also to be completed.

Akzo Nobel started its business in China in the early 1980s when it established Akzo Nobel China in Beijing. Akzo Nobel now has 21 operations in China among which 8 are chemical plants. The company has set a target for combined sales of more than $1 billion in China by 2010. Akzo Nobel China now has 2,500 employees in China.

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