PPG Industries finishes expansion of San Juan del Rio plant

PPG Industries, a Pennsylvania-based coatings company, has completed a $27 million expansion of its manufacturing facility in San Juan del Rio, Queretaro, Mexico.

The company marked completion of the project with a grand-opening ceremony attended by Queretaro State Gov. Jorge Lopez Portillo Tostado and San Juan del Rio Mayor Fabian Pineda Morales. The new facilities are expected to add another 115 jobs.

“Mexico is an important, growing market for PPG, and this expansion is an important step for our future in serving customers here,” Adriana Macouzet, PPG's general manager for Latin America, said.

The project added four new buildings to the coatings manufacturing site, representing about 100,000 square feet of additional space for production, product development and quality testing. The additional capacity will enable PPG to meet increasing demand for its automotive, packaging and industrial coatings products from customers in Mexico.

Upgrades at the facility also include renovated space for support services, meeting rooms and features for employees such as a renovated cafeteria and lockers. The new buildings incorporate sustainable designs that provide natural light in employee areas with intelligent lighting systems to maximize energy efficiency and incorporate water-recycling capabilities.

"These new facilities enhance PPG’s capability to serve the country’s fast-growing automotive manufacturing market with the latest waterborne and compact-process technologies that today’s global automakers demand,” Matt Marek, PPG's vice president for automotive coatings, said.

PPG Industries' vision is to continue to be the world's leading coatings and specialty products company. Through leadership in innovation, sustainability and color, PPG helps customers in industrial, transportation, consumer products, and construction markets and aftermarkets to enhance more surfaces in more ways than does any other company. 

Founded in 1883, PPG has global headquarters in Pittsburgh and operates in nearly 70 countries around the world. Its sales in 2012 were $15.2 billion.