PPG Industries has dedicated a new 95,000-square-foot, 22-acre architectural coatings facility in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, about 15 miles east of Reno.

"This new paint manufacturing facility enhances PPG's ability to provide superior service to our West Coast customer base, including independent dealers, national accounts and company-owned stores in 12 western states," said Scott Sinetar, vice president, PPG architectural coatings, North America.

The facility is equipped with advanced process equipment, such as a computer-controlled storage tank and batch compounding system, and automated filling equipment, which exceeds ergonomic standards and helps ensure high quality and efficient throughput rates. Production supports paint batches as large as 10,000 gallons, and the facility will manufacture more than 15 million gallons of water-based latex paint per year at full capacity.

Products will be sold under the Olympic, Lucite, Pittsburgh and other PPG paint brands.

"PPG looks forward to an exciting future as a business partner in Northern Nevada," said Terry McGinnis, plant manager. "Our current and future employees will be trained to help make PPG Reno a world-class facility, and we take pride in helping to diversify the regional economy."

The plant start-up team consists of 25 people hired primarily from the Northern Nevada area. Another 15 to 20 employees are expected to be hired to complement future operations.

PPG broke ground for the facility in September 2006, and primary construction was completed early this year. The building incorporates environmentally-sound, "green" building technologies by PPG such as ENERGY STAR-rated Duranar coatings and Solarban 70XL solar control low-emissivity (low-e) glass.

BASF Coatings has started up its new production site for paints in Russia. The new facility at Pavlovski Posad, 60 kilometers east of Moscow, has an annual production capacity of 6,000 tons of paints (basecoats and clearcoats). The new site will supply customers in the Russian automotive market. In addition, it will offer customers local support for application techniques and laboratory services.

“Our local production capacity provides us with a good basis for shaping the dynamic development of the Russian automotive market,” said Juan Ximénez-Carrillo, head of BASF Coatings’ automotive OEM coatings unit for Europe.

At the Pavlovski Posad site a staff of 50 is employed in production, at the quality test lab, the warehouse and in the workshop. As demand grows, the production line can also be expanded to a volume of 25,000-30,000 tons.

For the Russian automotive industry, as well as for prominent car makers from all over the world, Russia has become an attractive market and location for the production of cars. Today, Russia is already considered to be one of the world’s four largest growth markets, and it will be expanding in the coming years, which will make it Europe's second strongest national economy, after Germany. All of the key car makers, including the Asian OEMs, are either already represented in Russia or will be establishing their presence there shortly.

In addition to quantitative growth, Russia is also experiencing a rise in demand for high-quality paint technologies. “BASF has years of experience in close partnership with both Russian and multinational customers, who we support with products and innovative solutions for cost-effective and ecologically efficient finishing,” said Semen Belyakov, head of BASF Coatings in Russia.

The new coating is being considered for plating advanced parts by some of FOREMOST partners and other industrial firms, to achieve improved efficiency, reduced emission and extended equipment lifetimes in harsh conditions. The coating developed by FOREMOST has better lubricating properties than several commercially available ones tested under the same conditions, lasting tens of thousands cycles longer, according to the company.

The coating was introduced in a meeting of the scientific and executive committee of FOREMOST (Fullerene-based Opportunities for Robust Engineering: Making Optimized Surfaces for Tribology), held in Israel in February.

"We are proud that this distinguished pan-European consortium has introduced the new coating, based on our technology, which will contribute to the global efforts to save energy and reduce pollution," said Dr. Menachem Genut, president and CEO of ApNano Materials.

"The achievement of the FOREMOST consortium, and the fact that its members include top European manufacturers, further demonstrate the commercial potential of our technology," said Aharon Feuerstein, co-founder, chairman and CFO of ApNano Materials.

The National Paint and Coatings Association (NPCA) and the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology (FSCT) are moving forward with a merger of the two organizations following a majority vote by FSCT members endorsing the merger plan. The FSCT board of directors certified the vote at a recent meeting, verifying that 84% of those members who participated in the process voted to approve the bylaws changes necessary for the merger.

“This endorsement underscores the support of the membership for integrating the management and operational resources of both organizations. The merger will allow NPCA and FSCT to enhance the overall quality and breadth of programs and services provided to the industry and to efficiently and effectively apply resources to industry priorities,” said NPCA president Andy Doyle and FSCT executive director Joe Pontoski in a joint statement.

In February, NPCA and FSCT signed a memorandum of agreement, outlining the details of a prospective merger of the two organizations. The agreement framed a “governance merger” that will consolidate the governance, management and administrative functions of both groups under NPCA, while preserving each organization’s separate identities, operations, functions and member services. NPCA and FSCT will remain as separate organizations managed through a common governing structure.

As a final step in the merger process, FSCT submitted certain changes of its bylaws to its members for their approval. Approval of the proposed amendments to the bylaws required the affirmative vote of a majority of the members casting votes during the voting period, provided that at least five percent of the members entitled to vote as of February 29, 2008, cast votes. At the conclusion of the vote on May 2, the necessary quorum was achieved.

As part of the merger, FSCT and NPCA agreed to combine the International Coatings Expo (ICE) with the American Coatings Show and Conference (ACS) to be held on June 2-5, 2008 in Charlotte, N.C. With the combination of ICE into the ACS, ICE 2008 in Chicago has been canceled. NPCA and FSCT have fully endorsed and support the American Coatings Show as the premier industry exhibition for the coatings industry. In addition, NPCA and FSCT are endorsing and supporting the FSCT’s international technology conference, FutureCoat!, which will continue as the signature science and technology event for the industry and a forum for the FSCT’s annual meeting. A complement to the American Coatings Conference, FutureCoat! will be held October 14-16, 2008, in Chicago and feature multi-track educational programming focused on Globally Responsible Coatings.

All aspects of the merger should be completed by June 3, 2008, at which time the new FSCT board of directors will convene for its first meeting.

In a letter to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, National Paint and Coatings Association (NPCA) president J. Andrew Doyle expressed concern over misstatements made and unsafe work practices shown during the May 4 edition of the show, which focused on demolition and re-building of a home contaminated with lead.

The letter stated:

"...The misconceptions conveyed during the show were so glaring that they surely warrant a broadcast and web site correction prior to airing your next episode, so as to avert putting millions of viewers at risk.

First, the show gave the impression that any home containing lead paint would require total removal of lead paint from all surfaces before the home could be safe. This absolutely is not true in the majority of cases. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acknowledges that intact lead-based paint is not a hazard, when preventive maintenance such as paint stabilization or repainting is properly done. In such cases, lead cannot "seep through 20 layers of paint" as show host Ty Pennington claimed!

The Rhode Island Health Department required the Silvas to completely abate the lead-contaminated areas of their property because they have foster children under their care. But, the methods used to tear down the home were dangerous and unhealthy to the individuals involved, and definitely were not consistent with lead-safe work practices outlined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and EPA. Should a contractor or homeowner who watched your show attempt to abate a lead-contaminated area in such a manner, such activity would not only exacerbate the problem, it would create an even worse lead hazard.

Removal of contaminated yard soil was depicted as "necessary" on the show, but Rhode Island law only requires removal and replacement of the top six inches, not the several feet of removal shown. Certainly the bare soil depicted in the show is very problematic, and was described as the most likely source of lead exposure. When contamination is suspected, bare soil in children's play areas can be remedied in a number of other ways described by HUD and EPA, including restricting access (to bare areas), growing grass, and/or mulching a designated area. Your show mentioned none of these methods.

The nation has learned a valuable lesson from the asbestos clean-up problems in schools and other public and private buildings. Tearing out walls and full abatement models often backfire. That's why EPA and HUD have refined complete lead-safe work protocols to avoid the inadvertent release of lead during remodeling and rehabilitation. These protocols have proven to be successful, but there was no hint of concern for safety among the workers on your show.

The paint industry has been a partner with others supporting the non-profit, recognized, independent Community Lead Education and Reduction Corps (CLEARCorps USA) which, since 1995, has been in major urban centers (including Providence, Rhode Island) performing key education of the dangers of lead exposure and targeted remediation. CLEARCorps, which is part of the AmeriCorps network, understands the practical aspects of the lead-in-residence threat, and would not advocate the type of abatement demonstrated on your program as either emblematic of the problem or a good demonstration of a solution, except in rare instances.

In addition, the paint industry has delivered free training for over four years using the approved EPA-HUD protocol in every state and Washington, D.C. to contractors, landlords, tenants, homeowners, state officials, local officials and lead advocates. In 700 full-day training sessions, 17,000 people have been trained and over 95% have completed a test to certify understanding of the protocol. This is training that your crew could, and should, take before attempting work on another lead-contaminated residence.

Participating in this training would ensure that they are properly protected during such projects and, most importantly, your viewing audience will see the work being performed in a safe and appropriate manner.

One thing that your show did not mention is that the incidence of childhood lead poisoning is on the decline nationally and in the state of Rhode Island. This is due, in large part, to the concerted efforts of government, advocacy groups, concerned parents and industry. In a recent Rhode Island Department of Health report, the incident rate of childhood lead poisoning had dropped over 80% in the last 10 years, and in the City of Warwick, out of 1,812 children who were screened for the first time last year, 15 cases of elevated blood lead levels were identified. This clearly demonstrates lead poisoning prevention policies that have been put in place in Rhode Island, and around the country, are working.

The misstatements made during this episode of your show absolutely need to be corrected, for the safety and education of the viewing public. Doing so will lessen the risk of harm to those following the example witnessed on your show and will serve to clarify the gross inaccuracies presented therein.

An immediate on-air update plus postings to the ABC network, news and Good Morning America web sites will certainly help reach out to the millions of viewers who need to receive the correct, safe information.

I look forward to your quick response and prompt correction before the next broadcast..."

Industri Kapital (IK) has signed an agreement with Nordic Capital Fund VI regarding the sale of CPS Color Group Oy.

Based in Vantaa, Finland and with approximately 900 employees in eleven countries, CPS Color a global supplier of advanced tinting systems supplying all of the necessary tinting system components including colorants, dispensers, mixers, software, marketing materials, technical support and consulting services.

IK acquired CPS Color (formerly known as Tikkurila CPS) in 2000. Since then, the company has undergone significant organizational and operational restructuring, including simplification of the production footprint, resulting in increased efficiencies and cost savings. Under IK's ownership, CPS Color has focused on organic growth, strengthening of R&D and building its overall solution provider business model. The business has also grown with the  acquisition and integration of Corob in 2002. Since 2000, the company's revenues have more than doubled, whereas earnings (EBITDA) nearly tripled during the same period.

"Under IK's ownership, CPS Color has been significantly reorganized and restructured," said Michael Rosenlew, partner, Industri Kapital. "We have worked closely with the management team to implement operational improvements while at the same time executing acquisition-driven growth. Today CPS Color is a much stronger company than when we acquired it with a unique profile and market leading position."

"IK have been highly supportive owners during a period of significant growth of CPS Color," said Arto Metsänen, CEO, CPS Color. "IK led the company in establishing its independence from Tikkurila and was fully committed to the development of the company as a tinting solutions provider; as part of the latter strategy IK supported the important acquisition of Corob in 2002. We are very pleased that Nordic Capital will become our new shareholder supporting us in our next step for successful development."

"It is an exciting time in the development of the company and Nordic Capital are committed to supporting the management team in its development plans," said Robert Furuhjelm, partner, Nordic Capital. "We are delighted to participate in the success of CPS Color and look forward to taking an active role as the company continues to strengthen its position and expand into new markets and products."

Paint production at Hempel's factory in Lundtofte, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark, will continue until May 31, 2010. After that point, a new factory in Poland will take over. Hempel’s remaining departments in Lundtofte, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark, will not be affected by the move.

The decision is the result of developments in the global market, according to the company. Growing competition in the paint industry means that it is no longer possible to produce paint in Denmark at competitive prices.

“I’m sorry that stopping production at our Lyngby plant will affect so many of our valued colleagues, but unfortunately we have no choice if we are to compete on the global market," said Pierre-Yves Jullien, CEO of the Hempel Group. "Fortunately, the timeline enables us to help those affected in the best possible manner.”

123 of the company's employees are expected to be affected by the closure in 2010.

BASF has made plans to expand its offerings for the automotive industry in India with investments in plants and technology. The company will build a new engineering plastics compounding plant at its existing site in Thane, which is expected to come on stream by the second half of 2009. As well as being used in the automotive industry, engineering plastics are also employed in the electrical and electronics industries, for example.

BASF has also set up a computer aided engineering (CAE) lab in Thane where its engineers design and optimize new engineering plastic parts in close cooperation with customers. "Advanced CAE technology is a key competence of BASF in the field of engineering plastics," said Hermann Althoff, BASF's group vice president, Asia Pacific engineering plastics. "Offering this service to customers, combined with local supply from the new plant, is a major milestone in growing our engineering plastics business in India."

In addition, BASF Coatings commissioned a new Refinish Color Lab at Mangalore in February 2008, and is expanding its e-coat facility, which is expected to be completed by end of 2008. Also underway is the expansion of BASF's catalyst plant in Chennai. The plant will triple its capacity by 2009, as announced in August 2007.

"Automotive is one of BASF's most important target industry segments and our second-largest source of sales after the chemical industry," said Dr. Wolfgang Hapke, president market and business development Asia Pacific. "In 2007, BASF derived over 13% of its total global sales of €58 billion from sales to the automotive industry."

A special focus for BASF is energy efficiency and solutions to curb emissions. Today the company offers a catalyst that makes it possible for the first time to convert up to 96% of a vehicle´s emissions into harmless end products, according to the company.

Catalysts are not the only way of cutting emissions: The vehicle's weight is another crucial factor. Reducing a vehicle's weight by ten percent translates into five to seven percent less fuel consumption, and BASF's fuel additives can cut consumption by a further two percent. In fact, for every kilogram by which the weight of a car is reduced, the environment is spared 25.3 kilograms of CO2 emissions over the entire service life of the car. Using plastics in automobile construction therefore also makes sense from an environmental point of view because they are much lighter than steel components, the company said. BASF provides many of the complex high-tech ensembles of plastic solutions that are commonly found in cars today—from dashboards and seats to airbags and temperature-resistant plastics that function right next to the engine block.

"Production figures show that Asia is the fastest growing region in the global automotive industry, with car production increasing by eight percent last year; in India it has been growing at an average of 15% per year over the last few years. Innovations in the automotive industry are increasingly being driven by Asian companies, and BASF supports this trend," said Prasad Chandran, chairman BASF Group in India and head South Asia.

Following its strategy of growth, Tikkurila, which is responsible for Kemira's paints and coatings business, will strengthen its position in the Southeasteuropean paint market. The company has agreed to establish a trading company by the name of Tikkurila JUB Romania with the paint company JUB of Slovenia based on equal partnership.

The new company will be responsible for the marketing, sales and distributing of Tikkurila's and JUB's decorative paints in Romania. With its office and warehouse in Bucharest, Tikkurila JUB Romania is due to start its operations as from 1 July 2008.

The Romanian paint market is expected to grow at double digit figures during the next few years. Especially demand in the medium and premium price segments will increase. The estimated size of the Romanian paints market is $170-180 million on an annual basis.

The Kolkata-based paint manufacturer Berger Paints Ltd. has tied up with Italian Becker Acroma Spa to launch water-based and polyurethane wood-finish products for the Indian market.

These two products will be followed by glass paints, clear coats, floor coatings, exterior coatings for heritage buildings and other products from the collaboration, known as Berger-Becker Acroma, in India, in the second phase of expansion beginning in September.

The technical partnership is an extension of their coil manufacturing set up Berger BIC at Goa. The products will be imported from Italy until substantial volumes are met before manufacturing in India.

“We will use the capabilities of the Goa plant for some time, but will look to set up a greenfield project somewhere in India, going forward,” said Stefano Antoniazzi, managing director, Becker Acroma.

The wood finish market in India is estimated at Rs300 crore, according to Abhijit Roy, vice president, sales and marketing, Berger. The company will be looking for a 25-30% share.

Berger Paints India Ltd. said in Mumbai on April 29, 2008 that it will invest $38.6 million to acquire Polish firm Bolix SA. The acquisition will be made through Berger's wholly-owned subsidiary om Cyprus.

3M has announced its intent to build a new facility in Singapore to produce coatings for film-based products used in commercial, electronic and automotive applications. By establishing a local film coating center, the facility will help the company better serve the Asia market and support efforts to accelerate growth.

"This investment brings us closer to our customers and creates a regional source of supply, which significantly simplifies our supply chain and helps us respond more quickly to our customers' needs in the fast-growing Asia market," said Kevin Kuck, vice president, 3M film manufacturing.

Construction on the new facility, which will be located in the Tuas Industrial Park, will begin in the second quarter of this year and is expected to be completed in 2009. 3M operations already in Singapore include a customer innovation center and the 3M Woodlands facility, which manufactures flex circuits and electronic adhesives.

AkzoNobel has launched its new corporate brand—Tomorrow's Answers Today.
 
In addition to the subtle name change and new logo, a new brand architecture has also been introduced, along with updated company values and a new brand philosophy, according to the company.
 
"This is the new AkzoNobel. We are one company, with a powerful new global brand which will propel us into a new era of competitiveness and opportunity," said CEO Hans Wijers. "Our new brand concept typifies our desire to create new ideas. To stay one step ahead and continually seek out new and better answers for our customers. It means we think about the future, but we act in the present."
 
Wijers added that the introduction of Tomorrow's Answers Today is central to the new brand. "It is the heartbeat of the transformed AkzoNobel," he said. "It drives our creativity, our product development and lies at the core of all our activities. It will focus our efforts on further strengthening our position as being the world's largest paint and coatings producer and one of the leading global suppliers of specialty chemicals.
 
"What does that concept mean exactly? It means we believe that what is good for our customers today is not necessarily good enough for them tomorrow," he added. "So that constant search for answers is what drives us. It focuses the whole company and inspires us to achieve great things for all our stakeholders, and for ourselves."
 
The decision to retain AkzoNobel as the company name was a strategic one, based on extensive research, which indicated that the name commanded too much value, heritage and respect for it to be discarded. Therefore, ICI will be discontinued as a corporate name, the company said.
 
"The new brand is about creating brand equity, not destroying it," said Wijers. "Our studies confirmed that there is considerable value in the name of AkzoNobel. It is well respected throughout our industries and is synonymous with trust and quality, so there was no reason to change it. Our strategy now is to combine the strong AkzoNobel business-to-business reputation with the former ICI's excellent consumer brands reputation. This will create a powerful brand with significant global reach and incredible potential for growth.
 
"The logo, however, has changed. It was already a very strong and distinctive asset, but it has been made more relevant for the 21st century and now has a greater sense of power and energy," Wijers continued. "It is an embodiment of our Tomorrow's Answers Today positioning." The chairman added that the logo will now be used to endorse all the company's brands. The ICI logo, meanwhile, will continue to appear on relevant products during the forthcoming migration period.

Also central to the whole positioning of the new AkzoNobel are its five new company values, which provide the bedrock on which the new brand is built.
 
They are as follows: focusing on customers' future first; embracing entrepreneurial thinking; developing the talents of our people; the courage and curiosity to question and integrity and responsibility in its actions.
 
"These company values determine how we operate and behave as individuals and as a business," said Wijers. "They will be integrated into all aspects of our operations to ensure that we continue to excel and deliver outstanding service and value to all our stakeholders. They will ensure that we remain a competitive and exciting company committed to delivering Tomorrow's Answers Today."
 
Launched at a special event held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the new AkzoNobel brand will be rolled out globally during the next 18 months. A worldwide corporate advertising campaign is also scheduled to start shortly.

The constructing line allows applying one- and two-layer FBE coatings; two- and three-layer PE coating and two- and three-layer polypropylene coating. The external coating extends pipelines life time of min 30 years.

This coating equipment technologically is designed to process pipes with up to 42 mm in wall thickness. Thus, the new coating line will match the capacity of a new longitudinal welded large diameter pipe facility also currently being built in Volzhsky. The works to install the complex should be finalized and operations of longitudinal welded large diameter pipes are planned to start in 3rd quarter 2008 followed by launching new section of an anticorrosion coating in 4th quarter 2008.

The joint venture Sto-Tikkurila was established in June 2006 in Moscow, Russia, with the business idea of production and project sales of various coatings systems for facades. Now the Germany-based Sto AG wishes to continue the business on its own, while Tikkurila will continue operating in the Russian facade coatings market under its own brands. The markets for facade systems are developing rapidly due to the strong growth in construction activity.

Tikkurila has been exporting paints and coatings to Russia since the 1970s, and started local production in St. Petersburg in 1995. Today the company has six paint plants and a distribution network covering 100 cities and towns in the country. The most popular brands are Tikkurila, Finncolor and Teks with a common market share of nearly 25% of the Russian decorative paints market.

Sto AG Group is one of the most significant producers of construction paints. Its main products include high-quality facade elements and renders, plasters and paints for exterior and interior applications.