Norway. Jotun A/S

The loan has been provided to help finance the new paint production facility in Sandefjord, Norway, and for R&D cost during 2013 until 2016.

The new Jotun Vindal factory started operations in May 2012, and replaced three other production sites in southern Norway.

Jotun Vindal factory is a production facility where new production methods and technology have led to shorter process times, more stable quality, more efficient production and a more closed production process. The new plant is estimated to give annual cost savings of around NOK 88 million, or 1.5% of total operational costs. The annual output is estimated at 80 million litres of paint distributed a,omg 1,500 different products.

Jotun’s main research and development centre is located in Sandefjord and employs about 280 people. Jotun’s R&D focuses on phasing out solvent based paints for water borne paints and developing, among other things, coatings for ships to reduce water resistance and thus emissions. Jotun estimates its R&D activities will increase by approximately 5% annually in the 2013—2016 period, corresponding to around 3.5% of total sales.

Jotun A/S is part of The Jotun Group, a leading supplier of paints and powder coatings, with 36 production facilities on all continents. Jotun is the world’s largest producer of marine coatings and has its headquarters in Sandefjord, Norway. The group has about 9,500 employees and is represented in more than 90 countries.

The new Jotun Vindal factory and increased R&D activities will most likely add value to the company’s product offering and contribute to further skills development.

Jotun’s extensive cooperation with universities and other research institutes, such as Sintef, Ostfold Research and Teltek, is expected to generate positive spill-over effects in the form of skills transfer.

The plant is also likely to place competitive pressure on other companies operating in the same industry to develop sector specific skills.

The overall use of energy is expected to be reduced by approximately 35 percent, mainly due to more energy-efficient buildings. The new manufacturing processes are automatised to a higher degree than those they replace. Additionally the need for transportation will decline with up to 80% due to the consolidation.

Jotun’s R&D activities aim to continue to reduce the use of solvents such as white spirit and xylene, and instead use water as a base. Jotun’s current ratio of water-borne versus other types of solvents in paints is 40/60. The aim is to phase out the use of solvents over time. Jotun is also working on phasing out the use of the metal cobalt, which currently is being used as a drying agent.