If you have spent much time in Papua New Guinea you may not necessarily have heard of AkzoNobel, but you’ll almost certainly be familiar with its Taubmans and International brands of paint. In fact, AkzoNobel is the world’s largest paints and coatings company and employs more than 55,000 people worldwide.

AkzoNobel provides anti-corrosive paint to PNG’s Dockyard. Credit: AkzoNobel

AkzoNobel entered the PNG market in 1998 through the acquisition of Courtaulds Group, and its present product range includes not only Taubmans Decorative Coatings, but also International Marine and Protective Coatings and car refinish through its Lesonal brand.

AkzoNobel has an extensive distribution network throughout PNG, with four branches in Port Moresby, Lae, Mt Hagen and Kokopo and many resellers throughout the country. ‘We can provide solutions on demand for major projects,’ says Managing Director Mikael Ruben. ‘Clients such as mines, subcontractors to the PNG LNG Project or dockyards require products to be made to order at short notice and we have a supply chain to cope with these demands.’

AkzoNobel’s decorative coating sector is the most dominant, and the company works closely with architects and builders, arranging annually the prestigious PNGIA/Taubmans Design Award in partnership with the PNG Institute of Architects.

AkzoNobel recognises that its greatest asset is its people, and the company continually endeavours to develop its human capital by training and upskilling. One example of this is the participation of its technical staff in the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) coatings inspector programme.

The company is particularly proud of its waste management programme which is part of its overall sustainability road map with the objective to reducing waste, water and energy consumption over the coming years. It is also the first industrial company in PNG to export waste for recycling in Australia.

first published in Made in PNG 2012