Chemtura opens new additives and urethanes plant

Supporting its commitment to customers in China and the greater Asia-Pacific region, Chemtura Corporation held the grand opening of its new multipurpose manufacturing facility in the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area in China.  

“Chemtura aims to create value for customers and other stakeholders by supporting its business growth with increased manufacturing capacity in faster-growing regions,” said Craig A. Rogerson, Chemtura Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “The completion and opening of our Nantong facility underscores this commitment and allows us to work closer with customers, bring them innovative solutions, and help them to be more competitive and successful.”

The state-of-the-art facility, located in Jiangsu Province 80 miles northwest of Shanghai, will consist of three production units supporting Chemtura’s Industrial Performance Products segment, which includes petroleum additive and urethane products.

The petroleum additives business requires local manufacturing and storage capabilities for some of its product lines in order to meet customer demand. These include synthetic finished fluids (refrigeration lubricants, air compressor lubricants and gear oils) and calcium sulfonate complex grease.

The first unit began producing calcium sulfonate grease in August, with production ramping up to commercial scale in the fourth quarter this year.

Growth in the urethanes division, including its low-free (LF) prepolymer urethanes, is driven by the commercialization of Chemtura’s high-performance, greener Adiprene? Duracast? product line coupled with increasing global and regional demand for its LF products. Additional LF prepolymer manufacturing capacity in China will allow Chemtura to continue to grow its most advanced product lines and places capacity in a region with strong demand growth, while preserving existing capacity elsewhere to continue supplying customers in other regions.

The new plant features administrative and maintenance buildings, utilities, a centralized control room, and quality control labs. Construction began in March 2012. This facility, which was approved in 2011, stands as Chemtura’s largest single investment since the company’s formation in 2005 and the central site for manufacturing in Asia-Pacific, specifically in China.