AkzoNobel to close down two coil coating units in Sweden and Germany

Dutch chemical giant AkzoNobel is planning to optimise the manufacturing footprint of its coil coatings sites in Europe and Russia by concentrating production at three strategic sites. The company intends to improve operational performance by focusing all European manufacturing for the Coil Coatings business on plants in Malmo (Sweden), Lipetsk (Russia) and Hilden (Germany). As a result of these plans, production at sites in Gamleby (Sweden) and Nurnberg (Germany) would end by June 2015.

Conrad Keijzer, AkzoNobel’s Executive Committee member responsible for Performance Coatings, said, “By focusing production on strategic sites that are close to our customers and manufacture products for more than one business, we will create a more efficient footprint and establish a more sustainable platform for future growth.”

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The transfer is scheduled to start in early 2014. Current manufacturing at Gamleby will move to Malmo and Lipetsk, while production at Nurnberg will switch to Hilden. Around 280 employees will be affected, with the company planning to transfer and hire additional people in Hilden, Malmo and Lipetsk. A centralised European development centre will also be set up in Malmo.

AB Ghosh, Managing Director of AkzoNobel Industrial Coatings, said, “Operational excellence is a key priority and moving production to three strategic sites is a logical step which will ensure that we are better positioned to deliver leading performance and accelerate profitable growth. These improvements in our supply chain will also enable us to respond even faster to our customers.”

AkzoNobel claims to be a global leader in coil coating, which is a continuous and highly automated process for coating metal before fabrication. The products are mainly used for building components and infrastructure, as well as for consumer goods such as kitchen appliances.