Axalta Coating Systems will build a new manufacturing plant in Nanjing, China, where high-performance automobile, commercial vehicle and industrial coatings will be produced.
The facility will be built on more than 170,000 m2 of land located at Nanjing’s National Chemical Industrial Park (NCIP). The plant is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2020 with a product distribution center and initial manufacturing capability expected to come online by early 2019.
The project will build on Axalta’s total investments in China to date of close to $100m since 2013. The project is subject to final approvals by the company and by government and local authorities.
The facility will manufacture a broad range of Axalta products, including primers, basecoats, clearcoats and resin intermediates. It will also produce Axalta’s AquaEC line of electrocoats and Voltatex family of Energy Solutions coatings.
Additionally, the facility will serve as a logistics center and distribution point for Axalta’s leading Refinish and Industrial products for customers located in southern and central parts of the country. The Nanjing plant will eventually be Axalta’s third largest global operations center.
Axalta chairman and CEO Charlie Shaver said: “China is a strategic market for us and we continue to invest in our manufacturing capacity and network there to enable us to more effectively serve our customers and to raise our service standards to support their growth.”
Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park Management Committee deputy director Zhu Yuanshen said: “We are delighted to welcome and support Axalta Coating Systems to set up in the Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park.
We believe that as a leading global coatings supplier, Axalta can bring its state-of-the-art manufacturing technology into its new production base, and produce environmentally responsible high-performance coatings so as to support and contribute to the local economy and to the sustainable development of China’s automotive enterprises.”
Axalta Vice President and Axalta Greater China President Luke Lu said: “We are very grateful for the excellent cooperation and guidance provided by the authorities in Nanjing who are helping to turn our vision into reality.
“We look forward to continued opportunities to grow in China. We anticipate allocating between $100m and $150m over the next three to five years toward the Nanjing project pending obtaining approvals internally and by government and local authorities.”
Preparation work is in full swing as Axalta has begun to work closely with the local authorities to start the design phase and development of engineering specifications for the new facility. Construction of the new Nanjing plant will utilize the latest generation technology from engineering design, materials and equipment to production processes.
The facility will also employ the latest emission mitigation systems and technology available to minimize energy consumption, waste discharge and resource utilization. These features will enable the new facility to align with Axalta’s global sustainability guidelines to protect the environment.
Axalta, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary globally, entered the China market 32 years ago. Axalta’s new Asia Pacific Technology Center (APTC), a 15,500 m2 facility in Shanghai, will open in early 2017.
The APTC will undertake fundamental research to develop new coating applications and support customer needs across the entire region.
