DuPont products have been marketed in Australia for more than 50 years, through specialised trading companies for products such as paints & finishes for vehicle manufacture.
In 1963, the Australian branch of DuPont Far East was established in North Sydney, NSW. It helped meet industry needs Australia-wide with plastics, elastomers, agrichemicals, explosives and x-ray film and equipment.
In August 1969, DuPont (Australia) Ltd. was incorporated as a private company, wholly owned by the US based DuPont Company and operating as a reseller of DuPont-manufactured products from elsewhere in the world.
Ag. products formulating and X-Ray film finishing capacity were subsequently established at Girraween during the 1970's and Butacite® cut blanks capability for automotive windscreens was installed at Wetherill Park, also in NSW, in the mid-80's.
In June of 1990, acquisition of the Fibremakers facilities in Melbourne and Sydney provided a more substantial manufacturing base, and made DuPont the largest producer of man-made Fibres in Australia.
In 1991, DuPont Australia established a Technical Centre in Wetherill Park in order to respond to local customer needs and to support local manufacturing. The Centre also supported the emergence of DuPont in the region, especially in the area of product stewardship.
Whilst the Automotive Refinish business continued to expand its distributor network in Australia during the 1990's, DuPont sold its Medical Business in 1996 and Hydrogen Peroxide Business in 1998. DuPont in Australia also sold its remaining Nylon manufacturing assets in Melbourne to Godfrey Hirst - a major carpet producer.
A major boost to the Agriculture & Nutrition platform is realised worldwide in 1999 when DuPont acquires Pioneer Hi-Bred International. In Australia, Pioneer operate two major seed facilities at Toowoomba in QLD and Narromine in NSW.
2002 marks DuPont's 200th anniversary and the Colour & Coatings Technologies platform celebrates the acquisition of Herberts Coatings globally. DuPont Australia's coatings business gains a large manufacturing plant in Riverstone, NSW and 3 automotive paint brands.
The operating landscape changes again in 2003-04 as DuPont Australia forms a subsidiary Invista (Australia) Pty Ltd which is responsible for the Nylon, Dacron & Lycra businesses. Subsequently, the Invista business is sold globally to KOCH Industries and DuPont ends an era in manufacturing textile fibres.
Today, DuPont Australia employs more than 300 people across 7 offices and sites. The Technical Centre at Wetherill Park has become a Centre of Excellence in the region for Regulatory Affairs and our Performance Coatings plant in Riverstone operates at world-class safety & efficiency standards.
