Henkel builds new adhesives factory in China

The construction of the new adhesives factory is part of the company’s overall strategy to expand its capacities in the growth regions. Currently, Henkel realizes 42 percent of its total sales within the emerging markets, and 53 percent of its employees are now working in those markets. The new state-of-the-art adhesives facility, which is scheduled to begin production at the end of 2012, will enable Henkel to cope with the rapidly growing demand in China and the Asia-Pacific region for its industry leading adhesives. The new factory will require a total fixed asset investment of 50 million euros. Henkel also plans to hire 600 employees to operate the new facility.

“This investment is in line with our priority to expand our business in the emerging markets,” explained Kasper Rorsted, Henkel’s Chief Executive Officer, during the groundbreaking ceremony, “China has been an important growth engine for Henkel, and we are confident that the plant will greatly enhance Henkel’s growth potential in the country.”

The new adhesives factory is also a result of the company’s efforts to further optimize its overall manufacturing activities by concentrating on fewer high-performance factories that will generate more significant cost, productivity and efficiency advantages. As part of this initiative, Henkel’s current adhesives production facilities in China will be consolidated into the new factory, significantly expanding capacities for existing and new technologies. These efforts have also been aligned to make operations more environmentally compatible as the new adhesives factory will set a high industry standard for its high operational efficiency, low energy and water consumption as well as low carbon emissions.

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA