New ink facility for beverage and can packaging open for business

NETHERLANDS-BASED AkzoNobel said it has opened its new facility for packaging inks in Songjiang, China. The plant which is also located at the company's biggest site for packaging coatings, will be solely for inks used in beverage and can packaging.

In a press release, Chen Bin, Director of AkzoNobel's Metal Coatings business in Asia said, "This new facility will establish AkzoNobel as a local supplier of inks in China and strengthen our position in the local packaging market," It also means that we now have local production of the complete external coatings system."

AB Ghosh, Managing Director of AkzoNobel's Metal Coatings business added, "We are very pleased to have started local production of inks at Songjiang. It will help us to better serve customers in what is one of our most important markets."

AkzoNobel is a leading global supplier of coating for beverage and can packaging, and its technology for two-piece retort can systems is the leading external system used by Chinese beverage and can packaging suppliers.

AkzoNobel said it doubled the capacity of the Songjiang site, which now has some 300 employees. It also houses the company's largest R&D center in China.