2 April 2015
DETAILS
Ashland Specialty Ingredients,
a commercial unit of Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH),
today announced plans
to invest approximately $89 million over the next three years
to expand specialty chemical production
at its manufacturing facility in Hopewell, Virginia.
The majority of the investment will be aimed at
expanding production of two key product lines.
Ashland said it would increase production of
Natrosol hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC),
used as a thickener in latex paints, by 4,700 metric tons,
or approximately 40 percent in Hopewell.
The company also will expand capacity for
Klucel hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC),
a high-value technology used to enable time-release delivery
in pharmaceutical tablet binders and coatings
and other applications, by approximately 50 percent.
The plant expansion is expected to begin
during the summer of 2015.
An estimated 17 new jobs are expected to be added to
the facility's current total of 237 positions
as a result of the expansion.
WWW.CHEMWINFO.COM BY KHUN PHICHAI
