Afton Chemical to Develop New Manufacturing Facility in Singapore

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Afton Chemical Corporation (Richmond, Virginia), a wholly owned subsidiary of NewMarket Corporation (NYSE:NEU) (Richmond), has announced plans to establish a new manufacturing facility at Jurong Island in Singapore. The venture is aimed at providing regional customers with a steady stream of quality products manufactured using the latest technology. The plant, which will cater primarily to the Asia-Pacific region, is also expected to bring down the supply lead-time considerably.

The new facility will be located at a pre-developed site with the entire basic infrastructure already in place, allowing for a quick startup. Although the initial operations are planned on a small scale, the facility itself will be designed to be both flexible and scalable, enabling Afton to produce customized solutions based on regional preferences and also augment plant capacity based on market demand. Chemical Specialties and Logistics Singapore Private Limited (Timor, Singapore) will manage the operations of the proposed facility.

In an effort to produce localized products, Afton recently set up two research and development (R&D) units in the Asia-Pacific region. The units, located in Shanghai and Tsukuba, Japan, will focus on creating products that meet specific regional needs in addition to minimizing response time on the orders.

The R&D facility in Shanghai is located at the Zizhu Science Industrial Park in the vicinity of two prominent universities. The 1,000-square-meter facility houses nine fully equipped analytical laboratories that can be used for both development and testing of products. The second facility in Tsukuba is an expanded R&D center, dedicated to innovative product development. The facility spans an area of 3,300 square meters, and is manned by eight managers in addition to formulators, technology specialists, and other technicians. Located in the outskirts of Tokyo, the center will strive to improve the response times for the company's customers.

Afton Chemical Corporation manufactures petroleum additives for lubricants and fuels used in machinery and vehicles. The chemical additives are used to increase the efficiency of fuels and lubricants, thus increasing the performance, power, and active life of the equipment. Afton develops and markets a whole range of branded additives and deals with both general and custom-made products that fall under two product lines: fuel additives and lubricant additives. The fuel additive range includes chemical compounds, which in addition to improving the refining process also increase fuel efficiency and reduce fuel emissions and costs. The highly formulated lubricant additives help ensure smooth and efficient functioning of engines and machinery parts and increase their durability.

Afton's Asia-Pacific ventures offer state-of-the-art technology, customized products, reduced lead times, and improved service levels and response times to customers in the region.

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