A significant milestone...
Leading more sustainable development in Mexico
Arkema's acquisition of the Mexico Coatings plant in September 2022 represents an important step in our ability to offer a broader industrial offering in Mexico and neighboring Latin American countries, by combining the resources of a world leader in sustainable materials with the leading manufacturer of products in the region.
This acquisition opens up new paths for more sustainable innovation, particularly in low volatile organic compound (VOC) and low carbon solutions for the coatings and CASE markets (construction, adhesives, sealants, elastomers).
Offering innovative and sustainable solutions
Broadening market engagement through low-VOC materials development integrating lower carbon solutions.
A noteworthy impact of the Mexico Coatings site acquisition is the potential for extension of Arkema’s more sustainable offerings in the region, especially in industries like automotive, construction, and textiles. The demand for lower VOC and lower energy solutions is increasingly important for environmental compliance and social well-being.
The strong local portfolio of waterborne solutions has the possibility to expand to include high solids, low temperature cure (low energy intensive) powder resins, and energy efficient & solvent-free UV/LED solutions, supported by long-standing rheology additives and expertise.
We are poised to better serve these growing segments and lead the local market as customers consider the adoption of more sustainable technologies to remain competitive. The accelerating need for lower carbon solutions is creating new opportunities for these energy-efficient technologies to expand quickly into a wider range of substrates and application.
Promoting diversity and inclusion
Diversity and inclusion represent real wealth for the Group and are a key pillar of its success.
Better integrating and valuing differences means strengthening well-being at work, fostering an environment of innovation and creativity, helping to improve business decisions, and making Arkema an ever more efficient Group.
Acting as a responsible manufacturer
The protection of employees and the quality of well-being at work is central to Arkema’s values.
Arkema brings global best practices in Safety & Social Responsibility. The first year at the Queretaro site was marked by anchoring safety into the site’s culture and practices, fostering gender diversity and inclusion, and building an environment that’s forward-thinking, balanced and fair.
Moving towards more sustainable solutions
A sustainable offering is essential in this context of a climate and environmental crisis.
To be a leader in the coatings and CASE markets, a company can no longer consider sustainability a short-term trend. Since the acquisition, Arkema has been working hard to align regional resources around the company’s five primary sustainability drivers – reducing hazardous substances at all stages of product development and use, integrating alternative feedstocks, improving process efficiencies, enabling positive environmental impact in product use and improving end-of-life product management.
Through the Mexico Coatings plant, Arkema begins this journey by developing tailored solutions that help coating formulators minimize or eliminate VOCs and encourages key sustainability advances, such as bio- renewable materials with the possibility to develop the Bio-Mass Balance approach across the value chain.
Helping to shape the future with new solutions
Our expertise is focused on developing solutions to meet the sustainability challenges faced by the markets and our customers.
The local footprint in Mexico also brought a new level of customization to Arkema's offerings. The company is now at a point where it can more easily adapt to different production scales and meet market and customer-specific requirements - especially in mission-critical areas such as the development of lower VOC and carbon footprint products with a high level of performance.
This level of personalization and cooperation positions Arkema – as a leading partner – to local customers and is reflective of the market's maturity – to address future industry innovations in the region.
What's next?
The next phase focuses on implementing technologies that will not only enhance product performance but also meet increasingly stringent upcoming environmental norms and regulations. It's a priority that aligns well with the wider market trend of responsible manufacturing and consumption.
Arkema's strategy for the Mexico Coatings plant is to continually improve how we work with local customers by extending capabilities from waterborne resins to broader low VOC, low carbon technologies in the region, developing the emphasis on all sustainability aspects as it leverages the Arkema global long experience and ambition commitments in this field.