The Woodlands, Texas - Huntsman Corp. plans to "invest significantly" in its Advanced Materials division, as part of an on-going plan designed to improve the company's manufacturing efficiencies and ensure long-term competitiveness.
The chemical company said that weak economic conditions in key global markets, combined with rising fixed costs and continued volatility in the cost of raw materials, has led it to implement an improvement programme that will "align resources to focus on attractive higher-growth markets." The business will focus on growth in industries such as aerospace, adhesives, highly-performance coatings and large-scale engineering projects. Huntsman expects benefits to the business in the range of $70 million though it did not specify the planned level of investment.
"The planned programme is designed to ensure that the Advanced Materials business is strongly positioned to compete successfully in a challenging marketplace," said James Huntsman, president of the Advanced Materials division in a 23 Jan news release. "We will continue to invest significantly in business, in order to help our customers around the world address some of the engineering challenges they face in the coming years to produce lighter, more efficient materials."
The programme is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2013 with full implementation expected to be completed over the next 18 months, Huntsman said.
The Advanced Materials business develops epoxy, acrylic and polyurethane-based polymer products.
LMH
