Growth in focus segments and markets

Our growth strategy targets continued investment in growth markets and segments where we have differentiated positions, such as aerospace coatings, powder coatings, and marine and protective coatings.

In these markets, our enhanced operational performance is supporting our mid-term growth ambitions. We also launched a number of targeted growth investments during the year:

•  A major €50 million upgrade is underway at our Waukegan, Illinois, facility in the US – the company’s biggest aerospace coatings production site – positioning us to meet forecast production levels and support a strong, multi-year pipeline in this rapidly growing segment
   

• In the UK, we’re investing more than €15 million on filler modernization and starting Chartek production at our marine and protective site in Felling. This will strengthen our position in the specialized, high-value fire protection market and help meet growing customer demand for this globally recognized technology
   

• Around €20 million is being invested at our North American Powder Coatings sites in the US and Mexico. This will support our business in the region by removing capability and capacity constraints for our full powder offering and enable production of our market-leading differentiated aesthetics for the architectural segment