Evonik Oil Additives will expand its Singapore oil additives plant, with completion scheduled for early 2015, in response to Asia driving above-average growth in the oil additives market.
With ongoing improvement and debottlenecking projects scheduled to be finalized during the first half of 2014, these optimizations and the planned expansion will nearly double the capacity of the oil additives plant in Singapore, the company said in an Aug. 15 news release. Evoniks initiative is a response to the above-average growth in the oil additives market due to expanding mobility and increasing demand for high-performance lubricants with higher additive content in Asia.
Evonik began operating the oil additives plant in Jurong Island, Singapore, in 2008. Factors that weighed heavily in favor of expansion at the existing Singapore location included excellent supply chain logistics, existing infrastructure, strong [intellectual property] protection and a skilled workforce, as well as local support from the Singapore Economic Development Board, the company stated.
From 2015, the Singapore plant will be the largest of six oil additive production sites owned by Evonik. The other sites include two in Germany, along with locations in Canada, France and the United States.
Ralf Duessel, Evoniks managing director for oil additives, told Lube Report the Singapore plant produces Viscoplex viscosity index improvers and pour point depressants, along with Viscobase base fluids. We already have a strong position in Asia, and we want to build on that, Duessel said. Its important for the customers and also for us to have short lead times and easy availability.
When fully operational, the staff complement at the Singapore manufacturing facility will increase by at least 10 percent. Both Evonik Industries AG and its Evonik Oil Additives business line aim to build on current capabilities to serve Asian customers with specific products manufactured within the region and reduce overall global product movements, the company told Lube Report.
The expanded Evonik facility in Singapore will also service the needs of new customer applications such as wind turbine gear oil lubrication. Increasing demand for high performance hydraulic fluids formulated with Evoniks Dynavis technology will also be more than adequately supported and supplied by this strong regional manufacturing center, the company stated.
Evonik Industries AG CEO Klaus Engel recently noted that the companys investment program has earmarked 2 billion for the Asia-Pacific region during the 2012-2016 period. Last year, sales in Asia accounted for nearly one-fifth of the Evonik Groups total sales, and our mid-term goal is to raise sales significantly in this region, Engel stated. We want to increase the number of employees in Asia by some 2,000 and raise the proportion of sales generated by locally produced products to around 60 percent.
Evonik Oil Additives specializes in additives for lubricants and refinery products based on polyalkyl methacrylates. The company is headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany.