MINNEAPOLIS, USA & TINGLEV, Denmark--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Valspar Corporation (NYSE:VAL) and Maersk Container Industry today announced a long-term supply agreement. Valspar, a global leader in the paint and coatings industry, will provide Valspar Aquaguard™ waterborne coating for shipping containers manufactured in Maersk Container Industry’s operations in Dongguan, China. With this agreement, manufacturing of a significant share of dry goods containers will convert from solvent borne coatings to Valspar Aquaguard waterborne coating. Maersk Container Industry (MCI) is a business unit in the Maersk Group, which comprises the world’s largest shipping container company. MCI plans to begin production with Valspar Aquaguard sometime in 2014 and aims towards one day going 100% waterborne.
“We are very pleased to work with Valspar in this industry-changing effort,” said Irving A. Hultengren, Managing Director at MCI in Dongguan. “Our agreement with Valspar reinforces our commitment to building more sustainable containers. By using Valspar’s innovative waterborne coating system, we will help our customers and reduce the environmental footprint of our production.”
As part of the multi-year qualification process, Valspar has performed vigorous field tests and has produced a significant number of dry van shipping containers with third-party manufacturers.
“Maersk is a global leader in container-industry sustainability, and we are privileged to partner with them on this innovative coatings solution,” said Roeland Polet, Valspar Senior Vice President, Global Industrial. “This is an important step, and we proudly put our 60-plus years of waterborne coatings expertise forward as a cost-effective, sustainable solution.”
Valspar Aquaguard is an innovative two-coat, 100 percent waterborne coating system developed by Valspar that replaces high VOC, solvent based coatings. Valspar Aquaguard reduces VOCs by 94% percent, improves corrosion performance, reduces energy use and lowers emissions all while improving the working environment.
About The Valspar Corporation
The Valspar Corporation (NYSE: VAL) is a global leader in the paint and coatings industry. Since 1806, Valspar has been dedicated to bringing customers the latest innovations, the finest quality and the best customer service in the coatings industry. For more information, visit www.valsparglobal.com. For more information on Valspar Aquaguard, please visit www.valsparcontainer.com
About the Maersk Container Industry Group (MCI)
With factories in China and soon Chile, MCI produces dry and refrigerated containers (reefers) for a diverse global customer group. MCI’s Star Cool reefer machine is currently the world’s most energy efficient, and MCI’s R&D section in Denmark constantly improves the durability, sustainability and energy efficiency of MCI’s containers. MCI is a business unit in The A.P. Moller – Maersk Group, a shipping and oil conglomerate employing 121,000 people in 130 countries. (OMX: Maersk) For more about MCI, see: www.mcicontainers.com
Or see the company movie (EN, SP, CN): www.mcicontainers.com/AboutUs/Companymovies/Pages/Companymovie-English.aspx