BIZCHINA / Overseas Investment
Dutch coatings firm sees profit in paint
By Fu Chenghao (Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-09-15 11:46
Dutch coatings and chemicals maker Akzo Nobel NV plans to boost its
presence in China's decorative paintings market and integrate its
chemicals business by building a complex in the country.
The world's biggest coatings maker and the top foreign coatings company
in China has relatively low exposure in China's decorative painting
market despite its strong presence in the industrial sector. Nippon Paint
Co and the UK's ICI Group, which makes Dulux-brand paints, are the
leaders.
"That will change," said Hans Wijers, Akzo's chairman and chief
executive. "We will invest more money in commercial information to
strengthen brand awareness. We will also launch new products."
The company acquired a Chinese rival, Toide Paint, in Guangdong Province
late last year to access distribution channels, a key to the decorative
painting business.
Wijers said there could be more such purchases. Akzo now has 13 coatings
plants in China and a new one under construction, Wijers said.
The coatings business accounted for 70 percent of Akzo's US$750 million
sales in China last year, compared with US$600 million in 2004. It is
expected to reach US$800 million this year.
The company earlier targeted US$1 billion in China sales by 2010, which
Wijers said is no longer a stretch goal given the recent robust growth.
He also said Akzo is seeking to integrate its scattered chemicals
businesses in China. Chemical sales represent 25 percent of the company's
total China sales.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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