SURABAYA, Indonesia—H.B. Fuller Co. broke ground on a future manufacturing facility in Surabaya to strengthen its network in the Asia-Pacific region.
The firm is investing $18 million in the new 75,000-sq.-ft. plant that is projected to create 64 jobs and produce 11,500 metric tons of adhesives when it opens in the second quarter of 2016. Steve Kon—H.B. Fuller's business director of Southeast Asia—said the firm sees growth of high single to high double digits in the region, especially in Indonesia.
“It's a significant population with more than 250 million people,” Kon said. “It's a growing region with more and more demand. As the economy grows, there is opportunity for manufacturers. As the manufacturing sector grows, the need for adhesives grows together with that.”
H.B. Fuller purchased 323,000 square feet of land, which Kon said gives it space to expand should demand dictate.
“That will greatly depend on the market growth in Indonesia,” he said. “We anticipate that we can quickly ramp up if we need to, but at this point in time there is not a clear timing yet.”
The facility will produce water-based and hot melt adhesives—which are produced using rubbers such as styrene isoprene thermoplastics or styrene butadiene styrene—beginning in the second quarter of 2016. The firm said the increased capacity in the region will enable it to meet local customers' requirements consistently and grow significantly in Southeast Asia.
The new site will serve the hygiene, packaging, woodworking, filter, product assembly, container labeling and other durable assembly industries, primarily focusing on Indonesia but also supporting Southeast Asia.
