Croda international, a specialty chemicals company, has conducted a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the construction phase of its Chocques manufacturing site in northern France.
The production facility, once completed, will increase capacity by more than 20%. The site is slated to be fully operational by early 2017. Croda hopes that the new plant will increase support to its European clients in personal care and health care sectors, as well as crop care and oil, gas and mining.
Steve Foots, CEO of Croda said: “It’s great to be here with other members of the Croda Executive Committee to mark the launch of the construction phase of this major investment at our Chocques site. This significant increase in production capacity is a strategic investment to ensure that the site can continue to play its role in supporting our global business and is part of our global capital investment plan for the Group. We hope to be supporting further projects here at Chocques to expand capabilities in the near future.”
Meanwhile, Stuart Arnott, President of Operations at Croda, added: “We are continuously focused on improving existing facilities as well as investing in new capabilities across all of our manufacturing sites. This investment in onsite steam generation at Chocques will ensure that production remains highly efficient when the new Alkoxylation plant is commissioned.”
“Following a comprehensive strategic review it became clear that the Croda Group would require additional capacity to service the needs of our customers in all regions. We are also constructing a very large game-changing investment in North America that will see us be the first in our space to manufacture a full range of sustainable non-ionic bio-based surfactants”
