Citation
(1998), "PPG to build plants in Argentina and Brazil", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 45 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.1998.12845bab.012
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1998, MCB UP Limited
PPG to build plants in Argentina and Brazil
PPG to build plants in Argentina and Brazil
PPG Industries has acquired Akzo Nobel Coatings International BV's remaining 20 per cent interest in a Brazilian automotive original equipment coatings company, and is establishing production facilities in Argentina and Brazil.
PPG held a 45 per cent interest in the company when it was established in 1995 and increased its share to 80 per cent in early 1997; 100 per cent of a related company in Argentina was acquired earlier this year.
Richard Zahren, PPG's vice president of automotive coatings, said current arrangements with Akzo Nobel for contract production in Argentina and leased production facilities in Brazil will be phased out as production increases at PPG's plants.
He said an idle plant at Sumaré, Brazil, about 60 miles (100 kilometres) northwest of São Paulo, has been acquired, and manufacture of automotive original equipment (OEM) coatings and related products is targeted to begin there by year's end.
According to Zahren, similar products will be made in a plant to be built at Pilar, Argentina, about 40 miles (60 kilometres) northwest of Buenos Aires, scheduled to begin production by the third quarter of 1998.
"These developments establish PPG as a major supplier to automakers in the Mercosur trading region", Zahren said. "The region's auto industry is expanding at a fast pace, and we have been moving rapidly in response to its needs. PPG's ability to meet consistently its supply and service commitments to customers, wherever in the world they choose to operate, is one of our greatest competitive strengths."
The 200-acre (83-hectare) Sumaré site includes production, laboratory, warehouse and office facilities. Zahren said existing infrastructure will allow rapid start-up of coatings production. PPG employs about 140 people in its Brazilian automotive OEM business.
The Argentine plant will be built on a 34-acre (13.8-hectare) site in the Pilar Industrial Park and initially employ about 35 people. The park, where more than 100 companies have facilities, also provides in-place infrastructure to expedite construction and start-up, according to Zahren.