AkzoNobel Breaks Ground for Micronutrients Expansion Project

AkzoNobel’s speciality chemicals business has broken ground at its Kvarntorp, Sweden plant, as part of a project to expand production capacity for chelated micronutrients.

These micronutrients are used as essential minerals in the agricultural market.

The investment of more than €10 million will help meet growing demand for micronutrients, particularly in regions with poor soil conditions. On track to be completed late 2018, the expansion will primarily add capacity for high-performance iron chelates, in which AkzoNobel is a market leader.

This project is the latest in a series of capital investments AkzoNobel has made to support the growth of our customers across a range of end-use markets. Recently, the company completed expansion projects at its LeMoyne sulphur derivatives plant in the US, the surface chemistry facility in Boxing, China, a so-called Chemical Island (a concept developed by AkzoNobel) in Brazil and a pharmaceutical grade salt production facility in Denmark.

“High-performance chelate demand is growing fast and this expansion will ensure we can meet our customers’ requirements going forward. Analysts estimate a global micronutrient demand growth of over 5% per year, partly driven by population growth and the increasing global issue of water scarcity in many regions,” said Wout Neleman, AkzoNobel’s director of micronutrients, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

“This is an important investment to support our customers and strengthen our leadership position in this market. Expanding our micronutrients capacity will help to increase agricultural yields in regions with poor soil conditions while it also supports the growing trend towards hydroponic agriculture and urban farming,” added Werner Fuhrmann, AkzoNobel’s executive committee member responsible for speciality chemicals.