AkzoNobel’s resins production scale-up will focus on facilities expansion, equipment optimisation and recruiting.
As part of the Grow & Deliver strategy and in line with the efforts to reduce carbon emissions, AkzoNobel
has recently announced that it is planning to invest in the scale-up of the in-house production of resins. The new expansion programme, that is already underway, will also help AkzoNobel to build resilience against supply-chain disruptions.
“All of our businesses use resins, and while we produce a good proportion of what we need ourselves, commodity and other specialty resins need to be sourced from third parties. Further investing in our own resin capabilities will help us to secure sustainable business growth, as well as supporting our innovation pipeline and sustainability targets,” stated Michael Friede, the Chief Commercial Officer for the Performance Coatings division at AkzoNobel.
The company will invest in facilities expansion, equipment optimisation and recruiting. The scale-up plans have been developed after an investigation led by a dedicated team, which assessed some opportunities that will allow AkzoNobel to unlock more value and become more self-sufficient. The investment is expected to contribute around €15 to €20 million in EBITDA by 2023.
“It quickly became apparent that investing in our own resin capability was the way to go. It will enable us to secure raw material supply to optimally support our Grow & Deliver ambitions and, at the same time, we’ll look to generate extra value by leveraging and optimizing the volumes we don’t bring in-house with our network of external partners,” further explained Friede. “We’re well aware that demand for resins is only expected to increase. Meanwhile, our resin manufacturing sites have extra production capacity available. So the decision to increase our investment in the production of resins at favorable economics is intended to add important value to our customers and our company.”