Ashland to increase thickeners production in China

Ashland plans to increase production capacity of Natrosol™ hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC) at its Nanjing, China site.

Natrosol™ HEC is a natural product, excellent thickening agent and used as a non-ionic rheology modifier in industrial and consumer focused applications.

The company said the unprecedented demand is a result of consumer trends towards more sustainable solutions including water-based paint and a global increase in the building and construction industries and the desire for milder, natural and sustainable solutions in consumer markets.

"Ashland Natrosol™ rheology modifiers have been the leading cellulosic thickeners for waterborne architectural coatings for more than fifty years,” said Guillermo Novo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ashland.

"Given the unprecedented demand and our customer-centric strategy, Ashland will build upon our previous investments in Nanjing and further expand capacity. This demonstrates our commitment to invest in Asia. It also supports a key lever of Ashland’s growth strategy to ensure we can meet our customers’ growing needs and provide additional supply security across the globe.”