Rohm and Haas expand in India

The Chennai facility, located in the Sriperambudur industrial area of Tamil Nadu in South India, is opening with the capacity to make 30,000 to 40,000 metric tons a year of specialty materials used in the manufacture of paints and coatings, adhesives, textiles, paper and leather. The plant, which cost US$12 million to build, is a 'zero discharge' facility that meets very stringent environmental standards set by the state of Tamil Nadu. The Chennai facility will also operate under the company's '21st Century' program which strives for reliable, cost-effective manufacturing facilities and a competent, motivated workforce continually focused on improvement. The company are also doubling the capacity of their 35,000 metric ton facility in Taloja, which is located near Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra. The combined capacity of Taloja and Chennai (100,000 to 110,000 metric tons per year) makes Rohm and Haas India's largest and fastest-growing producer of environmentally advanced emulsions and additives for paints and coatings and other water-based polymer industries. The company also have the leading position for solvent-free and water-based adhesives used by India's packaging and converting industry. 'Put quite simply, our goal is to be the best specialty materials supplier in India,' says Harish Badami, President and Managing Director for Rohm and Haas India. 'India is a critical component of our company's overall growth strategy,' said Rohm and Haas Chairman and CEO Raj L Gupta, who is visiting customers, government officials and employees throughout India as part of the celebration of the new plant. 'In fact, we believe more than 80% of our sales growth between now and 2010 will take place in the fastest-growing markets of the world - India, China, Southeast Asia, Central and Eastern Europe.' Rohm and Haas have been increasingly important participants in the Indian market since 1995, when the company opened their first sales offices in Delhi and Mumbai. The company expects to report US$100 million in sales revenue for India in 2007, and aim to more than double sales to $250 million over the next five years. Mark Douglas, Vice President of Rohm and Haas and Director of the Asia- Pacific Region, says the company are building a lasting infrastructure to support this growth, including plans for a process engineering and technical center in addition to the two manufacturing facilities. 'For example, Chennai and Taloja are not our largest facilities,' he says, 'but they have been built to incorporate the leading-edge environmental, management and operating practices that the company have developed elsewhere within their global manufacturing network, and at the same time can manufacture products customised for local markets. In India today, we have the capability to serve both large and smaller customers who can expect reliable, quality products to be delivered to their door time after time.' Pierre Brondeau, Executive Vice President of the company, says the growth and development of the Indian market is a good fit for the growth of Rohm and Haas. 'We are recording sales growth in excess of 30% per year for our products, within a market that is seeing 9% GDP growth overall,' he says. 'The underlying factors that support this growth - a strong housing and construction market, increasing consumerism and a retail boom and an increasing demand for products that are safer and better for the environment than existing technology - are expected to remain strong. This should enable us to continue to record sales growth of twice that growth of GDP in India - or greater - for several years to come.' Brondeau also noted that the company are seeing good growth prospects for products that are imported into the Indian market as well, particularly ion exchange resins, biocides, and SMARTFRESH products which help extend the freshness of fruits and vegetables.