AkzoNobel opened its €275 million Ningbo multi-site in China. Occupying a 50-hectare plot, the company’s Functional Chemicals business is already producing chelates in Ningbo. The same business also plans to start up new ethylene amines and ethylene oxide factories at the site before the end of the year, with an organic peroxides facility due to come on stream in 2011. The products produced in Ningbo will serve a number of markets including the building and construction, cleaning and detergents, food preservation, oil, personal care and pulp industries.

“We recently announced our medium-term value and values ambitions, which include achieving total revenue of €20 billion and doubling revenue in China,” said AkzoNobel CEO Hans Wijers. “This inauguration underlines the fundamental role new investment will play in those growth ambitions and shows how committed we are to expanding organically in the exciting and vibrant Chinese market.”

AkzoNobel currently employs approximately 6,500 people in China, with revenue for 2009 totaling €1 billion. The majority of revenue is generated from local demand. The company now has 27 manufacturing locations in China.