Elementis Plans New R&D Unit in Portugal
UK’s Elementis, a global specialty chemicals company, will be opening a new unit in Portugal, featuring a center of excellence and R&D laboratory. The new unit, which will be headquartered in Porto and is scheduled to open in the first half of 2024, will support the company’s business segments Personal Care and Performance Specialties and also reinforce the current R&D capacity of the Elementis' laboratories in Asia and the Americas.
As part of this investment, the company plans to hire 100 employees.
By the end of 2024, Elementis expects to invest up to €3 million in Portugal to open the new unit, in addition to the expected annual investment of up to €6 million in people, facilities and laboratories.
The reasons to choose Porto, Elementis said, were mainly the high quality of talent, the business environment beneficial to the company’s objectives and the infrastructure available in the city.
In Porto, Elementis has also identified important opportunities for collaboration, including potential partnerships with institutions like Universidade Católica do Porto, through the Centre of Biotechnology and Fine Chemistry (CBQF) from the Superior School of Biotechnology.
"Elementis’ new location in Porto will be an open and inspiring space for our employees and customers to collaborate on practical demonstrations, presentations and training. We have ambitious plans to launch more than 50 new products by 2026, and this new location will play a crucial role in realizing those plans," said Paul Waterman, CEO of Elementis.
