AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands - AkzoNobel is planning to invest around EUR 60 million to increase the production capacity of its automotive and aerospace coatings business in China. The investment will provide additional momentum for the company's accelerated growth strategy of achieving revenue of $3 billion in China by 2015. It will also strengthen AkzoNobel's leadership position in China’s automotive refinishes market. In addition to constructing a new production facility in Changzhou, the company will build related warehousing, quality control laboratories, support facilities and offices on the new site. The project will increase capacity by around 25 million liters, and the site is projected to be operational in early 2014.

Jim Rees, Managing Director of AkzoNobel's Automotive and Aerospace Coatings business, noted, "The automotive and aerospace market in China is forecast to further increase steeply in the coming years, and this investment will allow us to capture our share of this growth. Changzhou is the ideal location for this facility, as there is a good infrastructure already in place, and it is ideally situated in the coatings 'center' of China with close access to many of our customers."

AkzoNobel currently employs around 6,700 people in China, with revenue for 2010 totaling EUR 1.3 billion. A majority of the revenue is generated from local demand. The new site in Changzhou will be the company's 29th manufacturing location in China.