AkzoNobel's Specialty Chemicals business, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has completed a $10 million investment at its LeMoyne sulfur derivatives plant in the U.S., which supplies essential ingredients used in several major industries.

Located in Alabama, the investment includes a 20,000 dry metric ton expansion for the production of sodium hydrosulfide (NaSH), which the company supplies to customers in the paper, leather tanning, mining, and specialty polymers segments.

 

"This is a key expansion which will help to support growing customer demand," explained Sulfur Derivatives GM Ignacio Garin. "The LeMoyne facility employs unique AkzoNobel technology, which provides NaSH at lower impurity levels and higher concentrations than competing processes, providing a significant sustainability benefit for customers." 

AkzoNobel is the only company to produce a high strength, high purity NaSH at 60% concentration, which means the product qualifies as an eco-premium solution, offering advantages in terms of energy efficiency, emissions, and wastewater. 

Commenting on the expansion, Werner Fuhrmann, AkzoNobel Executive Committee member responsible for specialty chemicals, added that "this project is just the latest in a series of capital investments we have made to support the growth of our customers across a range of end-use markets. It also underlines our ongoing commitment to sustainability."