Swiss speciality chemicals company Clariant (Muttenz; www.clariant.com) has announced it will invest “multi-million Swiss francs” to build two new plants in Zhenjiang / China, for performance additives. The plants, which will offer additive solutions for the plastics, coatings and inks industries, are expected to start production in 2018.

“Local production in China puts us in a better position to benefit from the growth perspectives of the Asia region, and especially of China. Being closer to our customers enables us to better cooperate and tailor our solutions to their needs as well as gain valuable market insights,” said Christian Kohlpaintner, executive committee member at Clariant.

As well as accelerating response times and improving proximity to customers, Clariant said the additional facilities will provide sustainable solutions that will fill unmet needs in Asia, and especially China, for products with improved performance, better energy conservation or higher recyclability. The Swiss producer noted that demand is growing strongly in Asia-Pacific for innovative and sustainable products, for example, water-based coatings, which are forecast to grow from USD 15 bn (EUR 13.5 bn) in 2015 to USD 19 bn by 2020.

China has emphasised its need for environmentally friendly and safe products in its 13th "Five-Year Plan" and its “Made in China 2025” policy.