Croda breaks ground on new project in France to meet surfactant demand
The main focus of the project is on a new production facility for the UK firm’s surfactants, developed for personal care among other applications; and the move will increase capacity at the site by more than 20% when it becomes fully operational in early 2017.
The ingredient supplier says the extra volume will not only allow it to meet the ever increasing demand for some of its most renowned surfactants within the Tween, Brij and Myrj ranges, it will also significantly improve the flexibility of production across the 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,” says Steve Foots, CEO of Croda, who was at the groundbreaking ceremony.
“We hope to be supporting further projects here at Chocques to expand capabilities in the near future.”
By investing further in one of its core technologies, Croda will increase support to European customers in a wide range of industries including cosmetics.
Continuous strategy
During the ceremony, new utilities infrastructure at the site was also officially opened, which will see Chocques further improve its efficiency, reliability and sustainability performance; it already obtains more than 90% of its steam and electricity requirements from very low carbon sources.
“We are continuously focused on improving existing facilities as well as investing in new capabilities across all of our manufacturing sites,” says Stuart Arnott, President of Operations at Croda.
“This investment in onsite steam generation at Chocques will ensure that production remains highly efficient when the new Alkoxylation plant is commissioned.”
Having already completed major expansions in North America and Singapore recently, Arnott adds that the significant investment at Chocques completes the picture, and demonstrates the company’s commitment to its customers and sustainability.
“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,” he continues.
“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.”
