Akzo Nobel boosts Swedish chemicals market
Dutch-based Akzo Nobel has affirmed the competitiveness of Sweden’s chemicals industry by announcing a €26 million investment program in two of its main businesses in the country.
The company is spending €21 million to expand its ethylene amine production plant on the west coast at Stenungsund. Ethylene amines are an important additive in products ranging from detergents and paints to cosmetics and asphalt.
Akzo Nobel will also build a €5 million new plant at Skoghall, outside Karlstad in western Sweden, to manufacture ferric chloride, widely used in water purification processes.
Claes Alderin, managing director of Akzo Nobel Base Chemicals in Skoghall, said: “It’s very unusual for completely new chemicals factories to be built in Sweden. This demonstrates that Akzo Nobel has a positive view of Sweden and the Swedish market.”
Christina Tenfält, head of the Akzo Nobel ethylene amine facility in Stenungsund, said the expansion would raise annual production at the plant by 15 percent to 75,000 tonnes.
“The world market is growing steadily at a rate of 3 to 5 percent per annum and Akzo Nobel is one of the leading producers. We have been able to grow faster than the market and we believe demand will continue to grow.”
Sources: Dagens Industri, Akzo Nobel