Chemtura Corporation has announced that it will expand its Latina, Italy site to increase capacity for primary antioxidants (ADPAs) as one of the company's efforts to meet future market demands in the automotive petroleum additive industry worldwide. The expansion features the building of a new ADPA plant that will double the ADPA capacity of the Latina facility. It is expected that this new plant will begin producing Naugalube® antioxidants before the end of 2016.

"As the transportation sector gears up for the latest requirements in greater fuel efficiency, the market is indicating a step increase in antioxidant demand in years 2017 and 2018," says Kerim Wewer, Head of Asset Management EMEA. "Our efforts are part of a long-range capacity expansion program that started in 2014 to ensure a continuous supply of high-quality antioxidants to the industry."

In 2014 and 2015, Chemtura increased ADPA capacity at its Elmira site in Ontario, Canada and at its Latina site. Additional capacity increases and expansions will be initiated according to market need, the company said.

When automotive lubricants such as engine oils and transmission fluids are formulated with antioxidants, they provide excellent protection against lubricant degradation and help reduce automotive emissions as mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the European Union, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and other countries.

Antioxidant demand is being driven by greater fuel efficiency standards, particularly CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards that are moving the industry toward downsized turbo-charged engines with higher power densities. This, in turn, results in higher engine operating temperatures and accelerated oxidation in engine oil. According to projected growth rates, the demand for antioxidants is expected to increase annually by about 5% through 2018.

"Chemtura is the ADPA market leader for lubricant additive applications," said Laurence Messe, Global Asset Manager Inhibitors. "As such, we're committed to meeting the increased demand for antioxidants and the evolving needs of the global lubricant industry."

Chemtura Corporation in 2014 had sales of $2.2 billion.