Albemarle to Expand Production of MARTINAL® ATH Flame Retardants
Strategic expansion will boost Company's ATH production by more than 15 percent
BATON ROUGE, La., June 19 - To meet growing global demand for flame-retardant wire & cable compounds, Albemarle Corporation will expand the production capacity for its MARTINAL® fine precipitated aluminum trihydrate (ATH) flame retardants at its Bergheim, Germany-based "Martinswerk" manufacturing site.
MARTINAL fine precipitated ATH is preferred as a filler and flame retardant in wire & cable and various other plastics and rubber applications processed below 200 degrees C because of the additive's environmental friendliness, non corrosiveness, recyclability and excellent smoke-suppressant properties. The projected capacity enlargement is set at 20,000 metric tons and is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
"This expansion will help preserve a sustainable source of these popular and highly effective mineral flame retardant fillers for the global wire & cable marketplace," said Wolfgang Hardtke, Albemarle global business manager for wire & cable flame retardants.
Albemarle and joint venture partner RHI Group earlier announced that their MAGNIFIN joint venture (MAGNIFIN Magnesiaprodukte GmbH & Co KG) had completed a similar capacity expansion for MAGNIFIN® flame retardants at Breitenau, Austria. MAGNIFIN mineral flame retardants are often preferred for halogen- free applications where processing temperatures exceed 200 degrees C.
Albemarle is the world's leading supplier of flame retardants and halogen- free, mineral flame-retardant fillers, and is the only supplier that produces both aluminum trihydrate (MARTINAL standard, ground, low-viscosity, and super- fine precipitates) and magnesium dihydroxide (MAGNIFIN finely crystallized) flame retardants. Learn more about MARTINAL and MAGNIFIN mineral flame retardants at http://www.martinswerk.com/plastics_e.aspx.
Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a leading global developer, manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered specialty chemicals for consumer electronics; petroleum and petrochemical processing; transportation and industrial products; pharmaceuticals; agricultural products; and construction and packaging materials. The Company operates in three business segments-Polymer Additives, Catalysts and Fine Chemicals, and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. Learn more about Albemarle at www.albemarle.com.
Source: Albemarle Corporation
CONTACT: Media: Stephanie Dixon, +1-225-388-7904, Stephanie_Dixon@albemarle.com, or Rene Milligan, +1-225-388-7106, Rene_Milligan@albemarle.com, or Dr. Manfred Weber, +49 2271 902 428, Manfred.Weber@albemarle.com, all of Albemarle Corporation
Web site: www.albemarle.com/
