CHINAPLAS: Chemtura still growing Asia business

Global specialty chemicals manufacturer, Chemtura Corporation, said it will continue growing its Asia business, which the company expects to have a 33% share of revenue by 2018 from 18% currently.

“We expect that growth to be both organic and through acquisitions,” said Chet H. Cross, executive vice president and group president, Engineered Industrial and Industrial Products. “Chemtura will preferentially acquire assets in the region to support this strategy.”

The China business is so significant that Mr Cross is now based in Shanghai, having moved from global headquarters in Philadelphia, to oversee Chemtura’s Great Lakes Solutions, Petroleum Additives, Urethanes and Organometallic Specialties (OMS) businesses from the regional headquarters. “We have a history of investment in China that is a decade long,” said Mr Cross. “Our multi-product facility in Nantong [in Jiangsu province] is the largest investment for Chemtura since 2005.”

The Nantong facility is undergoing commissioning with the first production unit expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2013. There also are plans to manufacture additional products in future phases and for the plant be fully functional by August 2015.

Other recent acquisitions include the bromine assets of Solaris Chemtech Industries Limited in Gujarat, India, in 2012. The acquisition, which includes two manufacturing facilities, an R&D centre and a multi-product facility, will become a part of the Great Lakes Solutions business.

On May 15^th, Chemtura acquired 100% interest in DayStar Materials, LLC, a South Korean manufacturer and marketer of high-purity metal organic precursors for the rapidly growing LED market, which will be a part of Chemtura’s OMS business and a key element in OMS’s strategy to create a sustainable competitive advantage through technologically advanced products in emerging high-end, greener-application markets. DayStar was formed in 2011 as a joint venture of Chemtura and UP Chem. “These investments really support our growth across Asia Pacific,” Mr Cross said.