German chemical producer Oxea has increased its existing production capacity for isononanoic acid at Oberhausen, Germany, by an unspecified volume. The upgrade was achieved through debottlenecking.

The company said the additional output capability will support growth in the global synthetic lubricants market. It added that the debottlenecking project is the first in a series of improvements designed to increase its capability to supply the carboxylic acids market in the short term.

Oxea has also announced plans to bring its sixth world-scale carboxylic acids production plant on stream in 2021.

"Additional projects to further increase our carboxylic acids production are at various stages of planning and implementation. Oxea's flexible approach to manufacturing isononanoic acid in multiple units provides us with opportunities to quickly expand our supply position," said Kyle Hendrix, the company’s global commercial director for carboxylic acids and derivatives.