Lubrizol's additives business is set for a substantial makeover in the next two years.
The news camefrom the company's President Dan Sheet at the recent ICIS World Base Oil Conference in London, where he revealed that Lubrizol is set to spend as much as $300m in 2012 and a further $250m next year in upgrades and new construction.
Amongst the capex projects will be a new additive plant in China as well as facelifts for manufacturing operations in the US and France. Sheets pointed out, in an interview with Lubes'n'Greases Magazine, that the additives industry in general, and Lubrizol in particular, was fighting back from almost six years of difficulties - both economic and environmental.
Now, Lubrizol is leading the way in investment in the additives sector, helped through its acquistion last year by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Lubrizol expects to spend around $200m annually after 2013 to continue improving its infrastructure, which Sheets estimates costs around $180m in capex to keep running in its current state.