AkzoNobel has finalised a joint venture, named ANAVEN, with chemicals manufacturing company Atul to produce monochloroacetic acid (MCA) in India with the two companies set to open a new plant in 2019.

Both companies will take a 50 percent stake in the venture, with the Gujarat-based plant building on AkzoNobel’s current MCA producing facilities in China, USA, Japan and the Netherlands, while also boosting Atul’s production of herbicide 2,4-D, which uses MCA as a core ingredient.

The plant will initially boast an annual capacity of 32,000 tonnes of MCA, which is used for the manufacture of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) used for the personal care products, with plans for 60,000 tonnes in the future. As part of the collaboration, both companies will draw on each other’s capabilities, such as Atul’s infrastructure and AkzoNobel’s eco-friendly hydrogenation technology.

Knut Schwalenberg, Managing Director of AkzoNobel’s Industrial Chemicals business, said, “The ANAVEN partnership will contribute to our vision of driving profitable growth for AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals in India, which is an important growth market.
“Our partnership with Atul is part of an asset light strategy to expand our leading position in MCA through shared incremental investments.”

Sunil Lalbhai, Chairman and Managing Director of Atul, added, “We are delighted to partner with AkzoNobel to bring state-of-the-art technology for MCA to India from a world class company and develop a long-lasting relationship with AkzoNobel to create value for all the Stakeholders. The ANAVEN project will be in sync with the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Government of India.”