Just seven months after acquiring the former Martinswerk plant in Bergheim, Germany, the Fire Retardant Additives (FRA) business unit of Huber Engineering Materials, a division of J.M. Huber Corporation, is expanding capacity of precipitated alumina trihydrate. Output of the flame retardant will rise by 10% when the project is completed by the third quarter of 2017. The expansion follows a recently completed 20% hike in capacity for the material at Huber’s facility in Bauxite, Arkansas, USA.

Jerry Bertram, vice president and general manager of Huber’s FRA business, said the investment is the first in a series of expansions planned for Bergheim as it starts implementing its longer-term strategy. Managing director of Huber’s FRA European operations, Martin Schulting, added that the expansion is part of the company’s ongoing global growth plan and enables it to meeting increasing customer demand.

Huber Engineered Materials bought the Martinswerk business from Albemarle in February this year. It was its largest acquisition in more than 10 years and marked a series of investments to boost its flame retardants business. These acquisitions include the Safire nitrogen and phosphorus technology from Floridienne Group and its wholly-owned subsidiary Catena Additives in 2015; the specialty hydrates business of Almatis in 2012; and the Kemgard product line from Sherwin-Williams in 2010.