Albemarle opens R&D centre at catalyst manufacturing facilities in Korea

Albemarle Corporation held the grand opening of a new Research and Operations Center (ROC) at its facility in Yeosu, Korea on August 28.  The celebration, which was held at the new ROC, included a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The Yeosu facility is currently producing lab-scale and pilot-scale quantities of single site catalysts and components used in the polymer industry. The ROC addition will house new analytical and polymerisation labs designed to support R&D and manufacturing efforts for these products. Furthermore, it will help in generating new business throughout Asia Pacific in anticipation of Albemarle's commercial plant that is slated for completion at the Yeosu site later this year.

"Our Yeosu facility has been established as a world-class producer of polymer catalysts that utilize our ActivCat and Advantage technologies. The ROC will be essential in scaling up production of these products to meet growing global demand and the specific needs of our customers," said Amy H. Motto, Vice President of Albemarle's Catalysts global business unit.

"The ROC is a state-of-the-art facility that will allow for the quicker development of new catalyst formulations and could considerably decrease time-to-market for our products," said Jason Bevan, Site Manager, Albemarle Chemicals Korea. "Our team in Korea has done an exceptional job in bringing this ambitious project to fruition."

Albemarle's board of directors has also approved the expansion of the existing Yeosu facility to produce Albemarle's PureGrowth products.  These products are used in metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), a process used to manufacture chips for semiconductors, LEDs, and optoelectronic devices.  The expansion is slated for completion in 2013.