Akzo Nobel announced plans to build an international R&D center in Pontiac, MI, for the company’s Car Refinishes business, and said the site will play a “major role in the development of new products for the global and regional refinishes markets.”

The U.S. market for coatings additives is forecast to expand at an average annual rate of 2.5% and reach more than $800 million by 2007, a report from a market research firm concludes.

Fluid Enterprises, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Harbour Group Ltd., has acquired JASCO Chemical Corp., a manufacturer of paint removers and surface-preparation products based in Santa Ana, CA.

Industry Leaders Making the Headlines

Akzo Nobel said it has placed three of its Chemical businesses, including its Coatings Resins unit, on the sale block as part of recently announced restructuring moves. The company said it also will seek to divest its Catalysts and Phosphorous Chemicals businesses.

The Detroit Society for Coatings Technology issued a call for papers for its 29th annual FOCUS Conference, scheduled for May 4, 2004, in Troy, MI.

BASF AG announced a reorganization of the company’s Industrial Coatings business unit in moves aimed at strengthening the unit’s focus on major individual markets.

BASF announced separate agreements to sell its North American-based silicones business to The Lubrizol Corp. and its ester, alkoxylates and silicones surfactant manufacturing site at Gurnee, IL, to Petroferm Inc.

-- ITW-Devcon, a division of Illinois Tool Works Inc., has acquired the primary assets of St. Louis-based Futura Coatings Inc.

BASF and Q-Panel Lab Products have developed an accelerated Florida acid-etch test method that is reported to reduce the time required to test a coating’s resistance to acid rain by a factor of 13 to1.