Axalta appoints Chris Villavarayan as Chief Executive Officer and President

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. announced the appointment of Chris Villavarayan as Chief Executive Officer and President and a member of the company’s Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2023, said the company.

At that time, Rakesh Sachdev, who has served as interim CEO and President, will succeed Bill Cook as non-executive Board Chair. Cook will continue to serve as an independent director and will become Chair of the Board’s Compensation Committee, while also continuing to serve on the Audit Committee.

Villavarayan is a proven global executive with more than two decades of diverse operational and management experience in industrial sectors. Most recently, he served as CEO and President of Meritor, Inc., positioning Meritor as a global industry leader of commercial vehicle drivetrains and engineered systems with OEM and aftermarket customers, including pioneering its expansion into electric powertrains thereby paving a path for the evolution toward zero emissions for commercial vehicles. He brings an established track record of driving growth, expanding margins and managing complex global operations resulting in significant shareholder value creation.

We remind, Axalta, a leading global supplier of liquid and powder coatings, broke ground for construction of a state-of-the-art coatings facility in Jilin City, Jilin Province, North China. The 46,000-square-meter new plant will produce mobility coatings to support growing customer demand in China for light vehicles, commercial vehicles, and automotive plastic components. "Our new plant in Jilin is another building block supporting our ambitious growth strategy for our mobility business in China," said Nicolas Franc de Ferriere, Vice President, Mobility, Asia Pacific at Axalta.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Industrial gases company Air Liquide and TotalEnergies plan to produce low-carbon hydrogen at the Grandpuits site in France, the pair said on Tuesday, as France looks to increase its sources of renewable energy, said the company.

Under a long-term contract committing TotalEnergies to purchase the hydrogen produced for the needs of its platform, Air Liquide will invest over EUR130 million in the construction and operation of a new unit producing hydrogen.

This unit will partly use biogas from the biorefinery built by TotalEnergies and will be delivered with Air Liquide’s carbon capture technology CryocapTM. These innovations will prevent emissions amounting to 150,000 tons of CO2 a year compared to current processes. TotalEnergies’ biorefinery will use the unit’s hydrogen to produce sustainable aviation fuel.

"By recycling the biogas produced by the biorefinery into renewable hydrogen, this innovative project makes full use of the conversion of the Grandpuits refinery into a zero crude platform harnessing the potential of biomass, especially in the production of sustainable aviation fuel,” said Bernard Pinatel, President, Refining & Chemicals, TotalEnergies. "Combined with the production of low carbon hydrogen and the capture of CO2, this project contributes to TotalEnergies’ ambition to decarbonize all of the hydrogen used by its European refineries by 2030."

"This innovative project is characterized by the combination of several solutions in order to produce renewable and low-carbon hydrogen,and contribute to the decarbonization of TotalEnergies’ Grandpuits site. It also provides the opportunity to recycle CO2 as part of a circular economy approach while securing its supply for agri-food applications. This project illustrates Air Liquide’s expertise in working with its customers on customized solutions to help them reduce their carbon footprint and actively participate in the fight against global warming. It provides yet another example of the key role that hydrogen will play to succeed in the energy transition"," added Pascal Vinet, Senior Vice President and member of the Executive Committee, Air Liquide, in charge of Europe Industries activities.

We remind, TotalEnergies SE posted sharply higher profits and benefited from high commodity prices in 3Q 2022, said the company. A new impairment linked to Russia, however, had an impact. Net income increased year-on-year to USD6.63 bn from USD4.65 bn. Earnings on an adjusted basis stood at USD9.86 bn, surpassing analysts' expectation of USD9.54 bn.

TotalEnergies is a global multi-energy company that produces and markets energies: oil and biofuels, natural gas and green gases, renewables and electricity. Our more than 100,000 employees are committed to energy that is ever more affordable, cleaner, more reliable and accessible to as many people as possible.
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MSCOW (MRC) - Axalta Coating Systems has won the Innovation in Costs and Excellence in Direct Purchase category in CAOA Chery’s annual Best Supplier Awards, said Coatingworld.

This is the third consecutive category win for Axalta. CAOA is the exclusive importer of Hyundai and Subaru brands in the Brazilian automotive sector. It is also the largest distributor of Hyundai vehicles in Brazil with the license to produce car and SUV models for Hyundai and Chery in the Brazilian market. The Best Supplier Awards recognize companies that achieve excellence in commitment, technology, performance and competitive pricing.

Ivan Witt, Director of Shared Services at CAOA, said, “Amid several global disruptions caused by the pandemic and the difficulty to deliver components, our suppliers and partners, including Axalta, stood out positively in supporting our automakers. The Axalta team has demonstrated their commitment to innovation, and we are proud to recognize their performance once again."

“This award further demonstrates our ongoing dedication to serving our customers with the finest quality products and services they have come to expect, even during challenging times,” said Mateus Aquino, President of Axalta Brazil. “We are proud of our 15-year partnership with CAOA, and we look forward to continuing our strong collaboration for many years to come.”

We remind, Axalta, a leading global supplier of liquid and powder coatings, broke ground for construction of a state-of-the-art coatings facility in Jilin City, Jilin Province, North China. The 46,000-square-meter new plant will produce mobility coatings to support growing customer demand in China for light vehicles, commercial vehicles, and automotive plastic components. "Our new plant in Jilin is another building block supporting our ambitious growth strategy for our mobility business in China," said Nicolas Franc de Ferriere, Vice President, Mobility, Asia Pacific at Axalta.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay launched today Reactsurf 2490, a new APE-free polymerizable surfactant designed as a primary emulsifier for acrylic, vinyl-acrylic and styrene-acrylic latex systems, said Coatingworld.

Reactsurf 2490 improves emulsion performance to deliver superior functional and aesthetic benefits in exterior coatings and pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs), compared to conventional surfactants, even at high temperatures.

In addition to exterior coatings and pressure sensitive adhesives, other common uses of Reactsurf® 2490 include paint binders, adhesives & sealants, textile & nonwoven binders, paper coatings, and building & construction applications.

“Exterior coatings and pressure sensitive adhesives are both prone to surfactant leaching,” explains Janice Ng, Coatings Asia Pacific Business Development Manager. “In exterior coatings exposed to harsh environmental conditions, leaching leads to dirt pick-up and water marks, while it leads to water whitening in PSAs. Reactsurf® 2490 prevents surfactant migration, which improves water-whitening resistance for PSAs and dirt pick-up resistance for exterior coatings. This means clear label products retain their original appearance, and exterior surfaces remain clean and dirt free."

We remind, Solvay and Orbia recently announced their entry into a joint venture framework agreement to create a partnership for the production of suspension-grade polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), creating the largest capacity in North Americam said the company. As it is further stated in a press release, the joint venture will create the largest PVDF production facility for battery materials in the region. The total investment is estimated around 850 million USD, partially funded by a grant to Solvay from the U.S. Department of Energy for a total of 178 million USD.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Surface Treatment global business unit of BASF’s Coatings division, operating under the Chemetall brand, celebrated the inauguration of its state-of-the-art surface treatment production site in Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province, China, said the company.

Spanning across 60,000 square meters, the Pinghu site is BASF’s first production site located in the Dushan Port Economic Development Zone and its largest surface treatment site globally.

“In July this year, we expanded our production capacity of automotive refinish coatings at our Jiangmen site in Guangdong Province. Today, we celebrate the opening of our new surface treatment site in Pinghu. We are strategically located closely to our customers to meet the local demands for our advanced and time-tested solutions. Our goal is to be a growth-oriented surface technology leader, providing sustainable solutions, services, expertise and innovations that support our customers in various industries and in our key growth market – China,” said Uta Holzenkamp, President, Coatings Division, BASF.

“BASF is committed to growing in China, the world’s largest chemical market. It is our strategy to produce where our customers are. The Pinghu site is another good example to demonstrate our customer focus by enhancing our local technological and market positions,” said Jeffrey Lou, President and Chairman, BASF Greater China.

“Asia Pacific is the world’s fastest growing surface treatment market and China accounts for approximately 50% of the market in Asia. We believe the China market will show attractive growth rates in the medium to long term. By localizing our cutting-edge processes and solutions, like our thin-film technology Oxsilan®, we are strengthening our leading position in China and we will significantly reduce the delivery time to our local customers” said Christophe Cazabeau, Senior Vice President, Surface Treatment, Coatings Division, BASF.

Designed as a smart factory, the Pinghu site allows a high level of process automation and end-to-end digitalization of the site operations for high efficiency in manufacturing and site logistics. The new site offers a comprehensive portfolio of applied surface treatment products and solutions to various market segments including but not limited to automotive OEM and components, coil, general industry, cold forming, aerospace, aluminum finishing and glass.

As per MRC, BASF posted a EUR130m loss in its German domestic market during the third quarter (Q3), as economic conditions deteriorated quickly, on the back of high production costs for chemicals companies. Martin Brudermuller added, however, that the overall increase in sales revenue in Q3 came thanks to the company’s ability to pass higher input costs onto customers through higher selling prices, as well as a weaker euro, benefiting the company in its non-euro sales.
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