Hempel eyes expansion, opens India coatings plant
Industrial and marine paint supplier Hempel is expanding its operations in the India with the opening of a new coatings facility in Nashik, Maharashtra.
The new plant will feature the latest in environmentally-friendly coating production equipment, including a semi-automatic powder handling system, an automatic liquid dosing system and a solvent recovery unit, the company said.
The company also plans to invest approximately €15-20mn in a greenfield project over a period of three years, it said.
Expansion in the Indian market is an important element within the company’s business strategy, officials said.
“We are excited to expand our presence in the Indian subcontinent and supply not only India, but also Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Nepal,” says Kim Junge Andersen, chief financial officer of Hempel.
“We’ve had very positive experiences with our organization in India and the new plant will significantly boost our ability to serve our growing customer base in this region.”
Designed to house raw materials and the finished product under one roof, the one-building factory is spread across a 1500 square-meter plot.
Under one-shift operation, the factory will produce 1.5 million liters/year. If further capacity is required, the factory can operate with two shifts to raise production capacity to 2.4 million liters/year, officials said.
“India is a very important market for Hempel and the expansion will fast-track our growth in the region,” said Umesh Singh, director of Hempel South Asia.
“While Hempel already has a large share of the global market in segments including wind turbines, cranes and infrastructures, India has also seen rapid growth in these segments,” Singh continued. “We look forward to supplying the protective and marine coatings to the growing markets for these segments in South Asia.
“In these markets, our goal is to double our 2010 turnover to above €18mn by 2013, and to triple turnover to more than €25mn by the end of 2015.”
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