Nouryon to build new ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose plant in Southeast Asia

Nouryon (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) plans to build a new production facility to meet the increasing global demand for innovative and sustainable additives for the rapidly growing Paints and Coatings end-market and other high-growth end-markets. The new facility will be situated in Southeast Asia, and with a capacity of 15,000 to 20,000 tons, it will expand Nouryon’s Bermocoll business, which supplies ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose (EHEC) and other essential ingredients to multinational and regional customers.

“Demand for Bermocoll continues to increase as consumption of water-based and odorless paints rises and the Paints and Coatings end-market keeps growing,” said Larry Ryan, Executive Vice President and President of Performance Formulations and the Americas at Nouryon. “Nouryon recently invested in our two existing EHEC facilities to debottleneck production and increase capacity to meet existing demand until this new capacity comes online. Building a new plant, which will be our most advanced EHEC facility, is the next step for Nouryon to continue supporting market growth and providing our customers with long-term supply security while increasing customer intimacy,” said Ryan.

Nouryon expects the final site selection to be made in the fourth quarter of this year, with construction beginning in late 2022. The startup of the production facility is anticipated to be in mid-2024. The facility will expand Nouryon’s global capacity to produce EHEC, complementing the company’s existing plants in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, and Ningbo, China.“Nouryon is considering several locations in Southeast Asia for the new facility because the region is a key growth market of the global chemical industry and presents great business opportunities for our organization,” said Sobers Sethi, Senior Vice President of Emerging Markets and China at Nouryon. “This facility will reflect our strategy of growing with our customers by providing innovative and sustainable technologies, while leveraging high-growth end-markets.”

Nouryon has produced its Bermocoll range of products for over 50 years, and today they’re sold in more than 80 countries around the world. Water soluble and virtually odorless, Bermocoll provides important sustainability and performance benefits for water-based paints and coatings, including improved spatter and sag resistance, and better color stability and hiding power. In addition to the Paints and Coatings end-market, Bermocoll is also used in the Building and Construction industry as an ingredient in dry-mix mortars, helping to improve adhesion, flexibility, water retention and workability.