Arcolor to Home in on Further Growth in the SGBA

A mere ten years after moving into a new corporate building in the town of Waldstatt (in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden) Arcolor AG is already bursting at the seams again. A manufacturer specializing in printing inks, Arcolor is firmly committed to its location in the St.GallenBodenseeArea (SGBA) and will build an annex to its existing premises through an investment of around18 million Swiss Francs.

Arcolor AG was founded in 1996 and has quickly become the world’s leading manufacturer of aqueous printing inks. Waldstatt is the site of its entire production: 17‘000 tons of aqueous printing inks are manufactured here through the application of casein (the milk proteins used in cheese production) as binding agent. Organic pigments serve as basic coloring agents. In recent years, the company has added new printing inks for packaging, wallpapers, tote bags, trash bags and other printing substrates to its product portfolio.

The export share of Arcolor’s production is 97%, 60% of which are EU-bound, predominantly to Germany and Poland, followed by China which is showing signs of strong growth. For that reason, Arcolor has opened a subsidiary in China. Currently, 70 employees are working in Waldstatt in the SGBA.

«Product development is a central priority, innovation is on top of the agenda», says Jörg Müller, Arcolor’s CEO. «In the next ten years we will be able to extend our workforce by 25 qualified positions.» Arcolor’s main growth engine is the industrial inkjet segment.

The construction of the extension is scheduled to being in early October 2017 and expected to last for about two years. As Arcolor is fully committed to environmental protection, it has included an on-site photovoltaic plant, not least as part of its ambition to cover its own power and electricity requirements at the highest level possible.

Website: http://www.arcolor.ch