In 2025, 44 major chemical companies underwent major streamlining: plant closures, asset sales, and layoffs.

34. Zeon Corporation (Japan) In January, Zeon Corporation decided to freeze for approximately two years its investment plan for a new facility at its U.S. subsidiary Zeon Chemicals L.P.’s Texas plant—originally intended to produce lithium-ion battery binders, with commissioning scheduled for 2026. 35. Hyosung (South Korea) In May, according to Eco Jiaxing, due to environmental concerns, Hyosung Spandex (Jiaxing) Co., Ltd.—located in the northern urban area of Jiaxing—had already shut down eight production lines by the end of 2023; two additional lines are scheduled for closure in July this year, another two by March 2026, and all remaining operations are slated for complete shutdown by the end of 2026. 36. SABIC In June, SABIC confirmed the permanent shutdown of its Olefins VI cracker unit located in Teesside, England, UK. The unit had an annual ethylene capacity of 865,000 tonnes and propylene capacity of 415,000 tonnes. SABIC has not disclosed the exact number of employees to be laid off; however, the site directly employed approximately 330 staff members, plus a similar number of contractors. This shutdown follows SABIC’s April 2024 announcement of the permanent closure of its Olefins III cracker unit in Herleen, the Netherlands—capable of producing 550,000 tonnes/year of ethylene and 325,000 tonnes/year of propylene—and marks another step in SABIC’s ongoing retreat from European operations. 37. AkzoNobel In January, AkzoNobel announced a restructuring of its French operations, including a €22 million investment to transform its Montataire plant into a flagship decorative coatings manufacturing facility, alongside plans to cut 211 jobs while creating 29 new positions. In May, AkzoNobel announced plans to close its production sites in Wapenveld (the Netherlands) and Machelen (Belgium), consolidating production into other facilities across the region. Previously, it had already announced the closure of three production sites in Europe and Africa: Groot-Ammers (the Netherlands), Cork (Ireland), and Lusaka (Zambia). In November, AkzoNobel and Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. reached a definitive agreement to merge, forming a global coatings company (AkzoNobel to hold 55% equity, Axalta 45%). In December, AkzoNobel completed the sale of its Indian subsidiary, AkzoNobel India Limited (ANIL), to India’s JSW Group. It also stated that it is selling its Pakistan business and expects further divestments going forward. Notably, in September last year, AkzoNobel announced plans to cut approximately 2,000 jobs globally by the end of 2025. 38. SGL Carbon In May, SGL Carbon decided to close its production site in Lavradio, Portugal—currently employing around 250 people and manufacturing acrylic fibers and carbon fiber precursor. 39. Kraton Corporation On May 7, Kraton Corporation announced a strategic realignment of its business to sharpen focus on core competencies and accelerate long-term growth. As part of this initiative, the company will exit its Dover, Ohio (USA) manufacturing facility and gradually discontinue its dimer and polyamide production lines. 40. H.B. Fuller In January, U.S.-based adhesive manufacturer H.B. Fuller announced plans to close nearly one-third of its global factories—reducing its total number of plants from 82 to 55—and significantly scale back its North American warehouse network—from 55 to just 10 facilities.

What’s happening with Dulux?

Let us first trace back 92 years. In 1926, Butterfield & Swire (B&S)—the predecessor of Swire Group—and Pinchin & Johnson jointly established Orient Paint, Colour & Varnish Co. in Shanghai. In 1948, B&S relocated its Shanghai paint factory to Hong Kong and merged it with Duro Paint Manufacturing (no official Chinese name; translated here by the editor for clarity), subsequently undergoing several name changes before adopting the name Swire Duro (Holdings) Limited (translated by the editor; English name: Swire Duro (Holdings) Limited, abbreviated as “Swire Duro”) in 1998, thus commencing its paint business operations in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, Swire Group resumed investing in mainland China—not only as a primary bottler for Coca-Cola’s China operations in the beverage industry but also entering multiple other sectors. At that time, Swire’s paint manufacturing and marketing business merged with ICI—the world-renowned British paint producer holding the Dulux brand—to form ICI Swire Paint Limited (initially bearing only the English name; the Chinese name was added in 1999). In 1994, the joint venture opened a manufacturing plant in Guangzhou, initiating local production and sales of Dulux-branded products in mainland China. In 2008, following AkzoNobel N.V.’s acquisition of ICI, ICI Swire Paint Limited was renamed AkzoNobel Swire Paint Limited. Swire Group currently holds a 40% stake in the joint venture through its wholly owned subsidiary Swire Duro. The joint venture operates four manufacturing plants—in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Langfang (Hebei Province), and Chengdu—corresponding respectively to AkzoNobel Swire Paint (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd., AkzoNobel Swire Paint (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., AkzoNobel Decorative Coatings (Langfang) Co., Ltd., and AkzoNobel Swire Paint (Chengdu) Co., Ltd. Chengdu Company was established in 2014, representing the most recent collaborative effort between AkzoNobel and Swire Group. According to publicly disclosed capital structures from Swire Group, the above four companies sit alongside AkzoNobel Swire Paint Limited under the umbrella of Swire Duro. Besides holding a 36% stake in the Guangzhou entity, Swire Duro holds 30% equity stakes in each of the other three companies. This indicates that, in the Chinese market, the decorative paints business operating under the Dulux brand is essentially a joint venture—with Swire Group acting as a minority investor, while AkzoNobel retains majority ownership, holding approximately 70% overall: • The Guangzhou company’s largest shareholder is Dutch-based ICI (formerly known as Imperial Chemical Industries), holding 54% (with an additional 10% held by Guangzhou Hi-Tech Zone Investment Group Co., Ltd.); • The remaining 70% stakes in the Shanghai, Langfang, and Chengdu companies are held respectively by ICI Omicron B.V. (‘B.V.’ denotes a private limited liability company under Dutch law; ‘N.V.’ refers to a public limited company), AkzoNobel Sinocoatings B.V., and AkzoNobel (China) Investment Co., Ltd.—a wholly owned subsidiary of AkzoNobel.

AkzoNobel completes sale of its Pakistan coatings business to IGI Investments

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AkzoNobel has finalized the sale of its Pakistan coatings subsidiary to IGI Investments for approximately €50 million. This divestment advances the company's strategic portfolio refocusing efforts within the decorative paints sector.

chemweek

2026-09-30

AkzoNobel completes sale of its Pakistan coatings business to IGI Investments

AkzoNobel completes sale of its Pakistan coatings business to IGI Investments

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