Newly formed chemical company Vertellus Specialties announced last week that it has begun expansion of its existing Greensboro, N.C., facility to include a new castor derivatives manufacturing plant and formulation technology center. The new facility is part of Vertellus Performance Materials division, which was formed last month through the combination of Rutherford Chemicals CasChem and Reilly Industries Morflex operating units.
The new facility will produce specialty castor and shea butter derivatives, formulations and polymer systems. Castor oil, castor wax and castor derivative products supplied to the grease and lubricants industries include the companys Paricin, Castung, Vorite and Lubricin lines. Castor-derived products are used as mold lubricants and release agents, plasticizers, surfactants, corrosion inhibitors, wear preventives, in the production of glycerine-free lithium and calcium greases, and as intermediates in lubricant and grease production.
This investment brings our manufacturing closer to our customers and gives us the advantages of dual manufacturing sites, Vertellus Performance Materials President Larry Slovin told Lube Report. The company continues to produce castor oil and derivatives at the former CasChem facility in Bayonne, N.J. Were committed to natural products. More manufacturing capacity and more flexibility let us do more for our customers, and the grease and lubricant markets are strategic markets for us.
Vertellus Specialties claims it holds the number one global market position in the production of castor oil derivatives, polymer additives and systems. We have over 250 products based on castor oil, Slovin noted.
On July 10 Arsenal Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, announced the creation of Vertellus Specialties, Inc., formed by combining two companies in the Arsenal portfolio: Rutherford Chemicals and Reilly Industries. Rutherford, CasChems parent company, was acquired by Arsenal in 2003.
Greensboro-headquartered Performance Materials is one of three Vertellus divisions. The others are Agriculture and Nutrition Specialties, and Health and Specialty Products. Based in Indianapolis, Vertellus Specialties has about 750 employees.