ATLANTA - The Fire Retardant Additives (FRA) business unit, part of the Huber Engineered Materials (HEM) division of J.M. Huber Corp., announced its fine precipitated hydrate (FPH) phase-two capacity expansion project at the Martinswerk Plant, which was approved in March 2018, is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

This substantial investment increases FPH production capacity at Martinswerk for high-quality MARTINAL^® LEO grades about 20%. The expansion project represents the single largest investment made over the last 40 years at Martinswerk and will also result in the delivery of several significant sustainability improvements, such as water reduction, in line with company objectives.

“This investment underlines the commitment towards our customers to support their growth and our strategy to grow and strengthen our global halogen-free fire retardant business. We are proud that our engineering and operations teams will complete such a large and complex project on time,” said Martin Schulting, Managing Director of Huber’s Martinswerk FRA business unit in EMEA+I. “We continue to position ourselves as a reliable and trustworthy supplier of high-quality products, which bring value to our customers,” he added.

The MARTINAL^® LEO fine precipitated alumina hydrate grades offer consistently superior processing properties and serve as the company’s global product platform for its customers.

Huber is a global leader in the production of alumina trihydrate and magnesium hydroxide non-halogenated fire retardants. Its FRA business unit has four manufacturing sites in North America and two in Europe. 

Huber has been a supplier of non-halogenated flame retardants and smoke suppressants for almost 40 years, manufacturing a large portfolio of value-added MARTINAL, Hydral^®, Hymod^® and Micral^® alumina trihydrates; MAGNIFIN^®, Vertex^® and Zerogen® magnesium hydroxides; and Kemgard^® molybdate compounds for a variety of end-use applications, including reinforced polyester molding and pultrusion, engineering thermoplastics, roofing, silicone rubber, wire and cable, coatings, and carpet backing. In addition, Huber produces MARTOXID^® calcined aluminium oxides, COMPALOX^® specialty oxides, and PERGOPAK^® carriers and matting agents.