Chemtura Corp. last week announced the expansion of manufacturing capacity for its Hybase overbased calcium sulfonate line in West Hill, Ont., Canada. The product is typically used as a detergent and rust inhibitor in crankcase lubricants.
Kirk Schlup, Chemturas global industry leader for marine and fuels, said the expansion – expected to be completed by November 2008 – will increases the capacity by more than 25 percent and is driven by growth in the marine and industrial areas. Applications for overbased calcium sulfonate include automotive, diesel, marine, railroad and stationary diesel lubricants.
As a component supplier, our products end up in formulations that can be shipped to any region, so we cannot say with certainty where the greatest growth is, Schlup told Lube Report. Certainly the marine business is experiencing high growth in Asia, but we have also seen robust industrial demand in Europe and North America.
Schlup said the company has recently ordered long lead time items for the project. This is a multi-million dollar expansion that we are undertaking to support our customers, he added.
According to Schlup, the West Hill plant was acquired by Witco when it bought Surpass Chemical in 1979. Witco merged with Crompton to form CK Witco, which later became Crompton. In 2005, Crompton merged with Great Lakes to form Chemtura.