AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals has broken ground on a project to expand and upgrade its organic peroxides plant in Mahad, India. The Dutch group is spending €4 million to increase capacity by 80% – actual production figures were not given.

The installation of a new wastewater management system will also make the process more environmentally sustainable. The additional output will meet growing demand from customers both in India and the Middle East. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2018.

“This is the latest in a series of organic peroxide investments to better serve our customers by upgrading technologies and increasing production capacity,” said Johan Landfors, member of the executive committee responsible for polymer chemicals. “This expansion will allow us to build on our strong presence in numerous organic peroxide market segments, particularly in PVC, acrylics and thermoset resins.

AkzoNobel said it has invested more than 100 million in upgrading and expanding its polymers capacity, including repositioning its global manufacturing footprint at sites in Mexico, the Netherlands, Belgium, China, Italy, Brazil and the US.

The company is also building a monocloroacetic acid (MCA) plant in India with joint venture partner Atul. The facility, under construction at Atul’s site in Gujarat, will have an initial capacity of 32,000 t/y, although it is being designed for future expansion to 60,000 t/y. Production is expected to start during 2019.