Zochem opens facility in The Netherlands

Brampton, Ontario—Zochem Inc., a producer of zinc oxide, plans to increase its existing presence in global markets in 2016.

Zochem said it will expand its capabilities further to service customers and manage relationships directly as well as via strategic regional distributors through a warehouse/distribution centre it recently opened in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

The aim is to ensure the company will be able to service customers through this location, “just as we do through the seven warehouse operations and facilities that we work through in North America,” said Joshua Belczyk, general manager of Zochem.

The warehouse will be run by a third party logistics provider, whose name was not disclosed by Belczyk.

“By using this relationship, just like we do in North America, it keeps the capabilities perfectly scalable with the needs of our customers and our goals,” he said.

“The sky is really the limit for the size of the warehouse depending on the volumes that our customers say they need to maintain lead times and safety stock.”

The other advantage to this location is “being the largest port outside of Asia and with a variety of material handling and logistics capabilities to reach throughout Europe,” Belczyk said, “but also the headquarters of our North American freight and logistics provider is also in Rotterdam.”

The expansion comes on the heels of the company's recent investments to optimize production capacity, improve operational efficiency and implement systems to achieve industry-leading customer service and logistics.

“I think for us to be viewed as certainly one of the leading suppliers for some of the most discerning customers in Europe, as we already are, but to increase and accelerate that through these additional capabilities and promotion, is really the goal,” Belczyk said.

Zochem plans to further promote its products and capabilities to the rest of the global market outside of its current North American market. It is already supplying customers Europe, South America, Africa, the Middle East, India, China and south east Asia.

“We've been really encouraged by the increased demand and response from the market, especially since the press release and announcement about our distribution centre in Europe,” Belczyk said.

The same tailwinds that motivated the company to add the Rotterdam warehouse/distribution centre really holds true for the rest of the world as well, he added.

“I think we're also looking at our existing relationships and potential for supplying the Asian market, as well as the Middle East, where we continue to see the need and see demand from customers for a strong, high purity, financially stable, financially secure supplier who can help them achieve their growth goals,” Belczyk said.

He added there is potential in the near future for distribution centers, similar to the Rotterdam operation, to be added in Asia and possibly the Middle East. That could happen as early as over the next several months.

With a capacity of 65,000 metric tons per year and fewer than 50 full-time employees, Zochem claims it is the largest and most efficient zinc oxide operation in the world.

In 2014, Zochem reported pre-tax earnings of $13.6 million on sales of $145 million.