AkzoNobel's Pamiers plant increases its production capacity for aerospace coatings by 50%

AkzoNobel has announced the groundbreaking of an ambitious €22 million investment project. This marks a major step in the development of its Pamiers plant, which specializes in the production of aerospace coatings. The investment will enable AkzoNobel's strategic European site to continue to grow in an expanding market.

The project, with a total investment of €22 million, aims to help optimize the plant's long-term sustainability performance. This will be achieved by adopting high safety and environmental standards and significantly reducing the environmental impact.

The investment will enable the Pamiers plant to meet growing market demand and increase production capacity by 50%.

"This investment brings real added value to our plant. Thanks to this new configuration and equipment that integrates the most advanced technologies on the market, we aim to raise safety and environmental standards to a very high level. This will undoubtedly contribute to achieving excellence while promoting the future development of our plant," said Arnaud Charmetant, Pamiers Plant Director.

"The groundbreaking of this project marks an important step in the development of the Pamiers plant. It is part of AkzoNobel's growth and industrial excellence strategy and highlights our company's ambition to create a sustainable, efficient and environmentally friendly industrial infrastructure that meets market needs," said Alexandre Gonin, President of AkzoNobel France.

AkzoNobel's Pamiers plant produces and sells aerospace coatings in France and around the world. 40% of its products are sold to the French market, 20% to the European market and 40% to the global market. The plant has unique industrial technology, innovation capabilities and customer proximity. AkzoNobel was the first European manufacturer to launch waterborne aerospace coatings. The plant continues to stand out for its innovations in durability and performance. It has two R&D laboratories. One is dedicated to aircraft structural coatings and the other to cabin interior coatings, working on the development of chrome-free products.

"Our role is to believe in the future and prepare for it. AkzoNobel has unique and globally recognized expertise and today it is investing in Pamiers. This is proof of its commitment to move in this direction and I am delighted on behalf of our municipality, ”said Frédéric Thiennot, Mayor of Pamiers.

The works have just begun and will last thirty months. They will be carried out in several phases to guarantee the continuity of the plant's activities and a high-quality service to its customers. These new infrastructures should be operational by the end of 2026.

The reconfiguration of the plant will include the construction of two new buildings. The first, with an area of 2,252 square meters, will include the storage of all finished products, raw materials and packaging. The second, with an area of 895 square meters, will be used for tank cleaning and waste management.

The complete restructuring of the existing building will also optimize internal processes. It will integrate fire detection and extinguishing systems, ventilation systems with atmospheric emission filtration, and water management. This will be state-of-the-art and in compliance with the latest environmental requirements.