The company has invested millions into the plant in Sao Paulo in the last two years, which is scheduled to be fully operational by 2014, creating up to 80 new jobs in the process.
"The production facility in South America expands our global Consumer Specialties production network and gives us better access to the growth markets in South America,” says Dr. Claus Rettig, who heads up the Consumer Specialties Business Unit.
“We chose Americana for this project because of its proximity to most of the Brazilian customers in the relevant industries," he added.
Progress
Evonik already supplies to customers in this region through its service and logistics center in Guarulhos (Brazil), however the new facility will enable the company to offer a broader portfolio of locally manufactured products in the personal care and household care industries.
"We have not only significantly increased our sales force capacities in the region in the last two years. We have also set up an application lab this year to fulfil our customers' technical support requirements," says Weber Porto, Evonik's Regional President South America.
Once the facility is up and running, Evonik’s new portfolio will include specialty surfactants, conditioning agents, emollients, emulsifiers, thickeners and fabric softening actives amongst others.
Expansion
According to market analyst Euromonitor, it is Brazil and China that are poised for the most dramatic growth in coming years - a situation that spells significant opportunities for cosmetics ingredients companies, which Evonik is clearly taking heed of.
Evonik currently has production facilities dedicated to cosmetic ingredients in Europe, the USA and Asia. In addition to the project in Brazil, the company is currently building another production plant for ingredients for cosmetics and household consumer goods in Shanghai to serve the Asian market.
The company's move to enlarge its production footprint in personal care ingredients is said to be spurred by important megatrends and product portfolio plans to manufacture locally based on renewable resources is said to fit nicely with consumers' request for a higher level of sustainability in the production of consumer goods.