Cognis opened a new plant in Jinshan, near Shanghai, on December 1, 2006. They already own a factory in Jinshan, China, where degreasing agents, auxiliary agents and some fatliquors are being produced for the leather segment.
The opening ceremony for the new plant for manufacturing leather and textile chemicals was carried out with the attendance of various authorities and invited guests from China and South Asia. The new plant will produce all types of fatliquors, from sulfited oils, lanoline and lecithin emulsions, to phosphoesters, sulfoesters and special emulsifiers.
The open ceremony began with a speech from Yusuf Aktalay, vice president for process chemicals (leather and textile), who stated that the launch of this facility has expanded the company’s manufacturing capability for leather and textile chemicals in China and other high-growth Asian markets, with state-of-the-art technology including units for sulfation, phosphation, esterification and blending. ‘By building new production facilities and modernising our process technologies, we have now further improved our ability to serve our customers, both in China and throughout Asia, keeping pace with the continued economic growth in the region.’
Later Baoyuan Wang, mayor of Jinshan, and Xuegen Jiang, director of Jinshan Foreign Economic Committee, told guests that with the new production facility, Cognis are playing a more important role within the Jinshan area. ‘It will boost the economic development in Jinshan. Local authorities are highly welcoming this investment and will give full support to get it running smoothly and effectively.’
After listening to the speeches, and as required for any company which open new facilities in China, VIP guests were invited to take part in the traditional ceremony of cutting the golden band.
Afterwards, the visitors were given a guided tour of the plant to see the investment at first hand, visiting the production facility, the quality control labs and the leather and textile application labs. Finally all guests were invited to dinner on a boat along the Huang Pu River.
With this investment of $5 million, Cognis have not only increased the capacity of the factory but will also expand the range of products that the company’s process chemicals strategic business unit is able to offer to leather and textile manufacturers. The construction work took 21 months and saw the layout and equipment of the existing facility adapted to the new requirements.
Cognis are a worldwide supplier of innovative speciality chemicals, with a particular focus on the areas of wellness and sustainability. The company employ around 8,000 people and operate production sites and service centres in thirty countries.
Cognis have dedicated their activities to a high level of sustainability and deliver natural source raw materials and ingredients for food and healthcare markets, cosmetics and detergents, and produce products for a number of other industries such as coatings and inks, lubricants, agriculture, mining, as well as textiles and leather. In 2005, Cognis recorded sales of e3.18 billion and an adjusted EBITDA of e356 million.
Leather is a significant business for Cognis, with the organisation being centred in Spain, Brazil, Türkiye and China, where the company have their most important functions of sales, production and R&D. There are additional production centres in Mexico, Italy and Argentina and they are present in the rest of the important leather producing countries via distributors.