Rohm and Haas Consolidates in Russia with New Plant

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Rohm and Haas (NYSE:ROH ) (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) will build a new greenfield manufacturing plant in the Moscow region of Russia. The plant will produce polymer emulsions for a number of markets including paint, coating materials and adhesives. The plant will be close to key customers with good access to local and imported raw materials. The plant is the company’s largest investment in Russia to date and will be wholly-owned by Rohm and Haas. It will create employment for chemical engineers, operators and administrative personnel.

Initial production capacity will 50,000 tons per annum (tpa) with a planned expansion to 70,000 tpa to meet the rapidly growing demand for polymer emulsions. “Establishing dedicated manufacturing in Russia will enable us to deliver our technically advanced products faster to the local domestic Russian market and to the neighboring markets of Ukraine, Byelorussia, Kazakhstan and the Baltic states. We are committed to bringing innovative products and tailor made solutions to the market place,” said Jean-Francois Mayer, director for the central and eastern European and Turkish markets.

The company has had a presence in Russia since the mid 1970s (when it was USSR) supplying chemicals for agriculture (pesticides, herbicides and fungicides) and ion-exchange resins through soviet foreign trade organizations. In 1993 the company re-entered the CIS market providing industry with ion-exchange resins, biocides and agrochemicals. An office was opened in 1998 to meet CIS and Baltic needs with a range of materials including acrylic polymers, ion-exchange resins, biocides, plastic additives and chemicals for cosmetics and detergents. Rohm and Haas generated global annual sales of $8.2 billion in 2006.

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