Underlining its commitment to becoming a leading green polymer additive player, Emery Oleochemicals (Shah Alam / Malaysia; www.emeryoleo.com) has announced a EUR 20m investment at its plant in Loxstedt / Germany. The money is to go towards raising output at the site as well as building a technical development centre, with completion of both projects scheduled for late 2013.

The investment is set against the backdrop of a 4-5% global growth in plastic additives consumption, said company CEO Kongkrapan Intarajang. In addition to raising output of natural-based “Loxiol” and “Edenol” high-performance additives, the plans also call for enhancing the site’s existing infrastructure to allow for the manufacture of the company's current natural-based product portfolio, including additives, coatings and lubricants.

“This is both an exciting opportunity and a testament to the importance of our Europe operations,” said Emery Oleochemicals general manager for Europe, Hans Peter Eckardt. Once completed, the technical development centre will serve as the group’s global hub for green polymer additives and will include state-of-the-art equipment to provide customers with value-added services.

Emery Oleochemicals operates two production plants in Germany. While the Loxstedt facility mainly produces speciality solutions, its plant in Düsseldorf turns out both commodity and semi-commodity products. Most of the group’s chemicals are sourced from natural oils and fats, including palm kernel oil and tallow. With a distribution network covering more than 50 countries, Emery Oleochemicals, with 1,000 employees, posted revenues of USD 1.2 bn in 2011.