AkzoNobel to invest €90m in new chemicals facility in Brazil

24 January 2011 07:49  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Netherlands-based coatings major AkzoNobel said on Monday it is investing about €90m ($123m) in a new facility that will supply the world’s largest pulp mill in Brazil.

The facility would be operated by the company's pulp and paper chemicals business, Eka Chemicals. It would supply, store and handle all the chemicals for a 1.5m tonne/year greenfield mill being built in Tres Lagoas City, AkzoNobel said in a statement.

The agreement - with Eldorado Celulose e Papel – would help drive AkzoNobel’s “medium-term strategy of doubling revenue in Brazil to €1.5bn”, the Dutch company said.

The mill was expected to come on stream in September 2012, it added.

"This 15-year agreement confirms our intention to accelerate growth and expand our activities in the world's high-growth regions," said Rob Frohn, the AkzoNobel board member responsible for its specialty chemicals division.

Eka Chemicals would be building a worldscale sodium chlorate production unit to supply the projected demands of Eldorado’s mill, which has been designed to accommodate three pulp lines, AkzoNobel said.

The new Eka Chemicals facility would also supply other key customers in Brazil. Work on the new pulp mill site started in June last year, it said.

"Future demand for pulp and paper chemicals in Latin America is projected to increase substantially over the next 15 years,” added pulp and paper chemicals general manager Jan Svard.

($1 = €0.73)

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