Expansions: Lubrizol opens tech/innovation centre in India; BASF sets up production for anode binders in US

To accelerate India-based innovation, chemical firm Lubrizol announced it will open a Technology and Innovation Centre in Maharashtra. The first of its kind for the company globally, the facility is designed to progress breakthrough innovations, expand collaboration, and enhance speed to market for Lubrizol and the many customers and industries it serves both in the region and globally.

Lubrizol says the new centre follows multiple Lubrizol investment announcements, with a more than US$350 million commitment into India over the last 18 months. This includes bolstering Lubrizol’s manufacturing strength in the region with plans to construct the company’s second largest manufacturing facility globally to support the region’s growing transportation and industrial markets, as well as a collaboration to build the world’s largest CPVC resin plant.

The company also opened a Global Capability Centre in Pune last year, doubled its capacity at its Dahej, Gujarat, manufacturing site and announced several other projects. T

The centre will co-locate lab capabilities and expand on the success of existing in-region technology Centres of Excellence (COE), it says.

The site will also include a Customer Experience Centre, allowing Lubrizol to co-develop solutions with customers and partners. The facility will feature advanced analytical capabilities to support research needs, including automation and digital tools, allowing teams to apply decision science to accelerate next-generation solutions.

“An innovation centre in Maharashtra provides proximity to key stakeholders, fostering seamless collaboration and operational efficiencies. Through a highly collaborative working space, the centre enables strategic research and development, leveraging the best of our legacy innovation and formulation processes with future-state technology to help us take our quality innovation one step further,” said Rahul Misra, Lubrizol’s Sr. Director of Technology, India, Middle East and Africa.

Lubrizol’s commitment to local R&D and innovation has been an active part of Lubrizol’s decades-long legacy in India. As one example, Lubrizol introduced CPVC piping to the India market 25 years ago, enabling clean drinking water for thousands across the region. Today the region is a global leader in CPVC technology.

Lubrizol says India Bar Soap COE has helped improve the structural integrity and sustainability of bar soap, ensuring soaps last longer and create less waste, earning recognition from leading global brands. To support emerging regulatory changes and trends in transportation, the company also has a variety of in-region innovators focused on next-generation additive solutions, it adds.

In other news, German chemical firm BASF has expanded its manufacturing capabilities in the US to include the production of Licity anode binders, aimed at supporting the rapidly evolving lithium-ion battery industry.

Thanks to this new production capability, BASF says it now offers its Licity portfolio globally across all regions. BASF anticipates access to local supply of raw materials as well as global availability to remain top issues of concern for battery manufacturers and OEMS in the years ahead.

The Licity portfolio complements BASF’s existing styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) manufacturing footprint. It currently produces SBR binders for electric vehicle batteries at production sites in Jiangsu and Guangdong, China, as well as Ludwigshafen, Germany, and Hamina, Finland.

With this latest expansion, BASF now adds manufacturing capabilities at Monaca, Pennsylvania, and Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Anode binders are small but important components that greatly impact battery performance and stability. BASF’s water-based anode binders offer customers a sustainable option with high-quality and stable performance.

BASF says its binders increase battery capacity, improve cycle stability and reduce battery charging time. Licity binders can be customised to meet various requirements, such as different technical focuses for pure graphite or silicon-containing anodes and in a variety of applications such as electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and consumer electronics.

BASF furthers that its binders are specifically designed to overcome different limitations of lithium ion batteries. They are waterborne binders with high colloidal stability that are very compatible with co-binders such as carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC).

SUBSCRIBE to Get the Latest Updates from PRA    Click Here»