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Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon Magnus (second left) and Crown Princess Mette-Marit admiring the model of the Jotun new plant to be built at Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.
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11th March, 2010
SHAH ALAM: Malaysia will be the South-East Asian manufacturing hub for Norwegian-owned Jotun (M) Sdn Bhd’s most advanced product lines after the completion of its new plant in Nilai.
Its regional director for South-East Asia and managing director for Malaysia, Peder Bohlin, said these included colour tinters and high-technology anti-fouling marine paints, which were applied to deep-sea shipping vessels.
He said Malaysia would also be its research and development centre for Asia.
“The RM160 million factory is expected to double production to 60 million litres from 30 million litres of paints and coatings.
“The plant, which is 4.5 times larger than its present Shah Alam, will employ 150 workers when it begins operation early 2011,” he said after the unveiling of the model of the plant by Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon Magnus and Crown Princess Mette-Marit here yesterday.
Also present was its Minister of Trade and Industries, Trond Giske.
Bohlin said in line with the expansion, Jotun aimed to introduce more paints to increase its share in the local market this year, which was worth RM1.1 billion annually.
Last year, it introduced a new paint, Jotashield Extreme.
With the launch, he said, Jotun was set for a double-digit growth in the exterior paints category in Malaysia this year, which was currently estimated to be worth some RM400 million.
“This is why we are extremely confident of recording double-digit growth in the paints category and increasing our market share to 20 per cent,” he said.
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