Akzo Nobel invests in impregnated paper facility in Brazil
Akzo Nobel is investing in a production facility for melamine impregnated papers in Brazil. The unit will be situated in Curitiba, the capital of the federal state of Paraná.
The Brazilian market for melamine impregnated papers, which are used as a surface material for furniture, is growing rapidly. Increasingly, large modern factories for “ready-to-assemble” furniture ask for local production of quality impregnated papers. Akzo Nobel’s business unit Industrial Products, which trades under the name of Casco Products, is the world’s leading manufacturer of impregnated papers. Casco Products has been selling its products to South American customers for many years and has a solid business base to build on.
“We have seen a substantial growth in melamine films and finish foil in Brazil during the last few years and we expect that to continue,” said Rudy van der Meer, Member of the Akzo Nobel Board responsible for Coatings. “The panel industry has made important investments in capacity. However, the market will only take off when state-of-the-art surface materials are produced locally. With this investment we will be ideally placed to play a major part in future growth in this area.”
Lars-Erik Thomsgård, General Manager of the business unit Industrial Products, added: “The site for the new plant is situated close to the Brazilian woodworking industries. It is big enough to house a first production line and a resin plant and also offers space for future expansion. For our customers in Brazil, the decision to produce locally is an important step that will have positive effects on service and inventory. In addition, we expect that our presence in Brazil will stimulate the need for printed, decorative papers in the whole of South America.”
Start up of production is expected by mid-2002.
Akzo Nobel, based in the Netherlands, serves customers throughout the world with healthcare products, coatings and chemicals. Consolidated sales for 2000 totaled EUR 14 billion (USD 13 billion, GBP 8.5 billion). The Company currently employs 67,400 people in 80 countries. Financial results for the full year 2001 will be published on February 22, 2002.
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