AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – Paint and coating manufacturer AkzoNobel has announced its intention to invest a further EUR 65 million in China. The investment will be used to boost capacity and improve operational excellence at AkzoNobel's surface chemistry manufacturing sites in Boxing and Ningbo.

More than half the money is being invested in the company's facility in Shandong Province, which was taken over as part of the acquisition of Boxing Oleochemicals in January 2012. As well as building a multipurpose reactor to expand local production capacity for amines, funds are being used to align HSE practices at the site with the rest of AkzoNobel.

In Ningbo, a new alkoxylation unit will be built, bringing the total investment at the multi-site close to the EUR 400 million mark.

As part of the investment decision, AkzoNobel will exit the merchant fatty acid business in Boxing, closing down two out of three fatty acid plants at the site, affecting about 200 employees.