Ashland Specialty Ingredients adds coatings and construction lab to Shanghai Technical Center

Ashland Specialty Ingredients adds coatings and construction lab to Shanghai Technical Center

Shanghai, China - Ashland Specialty Ingredients, a commercial unit of Ashland Inc. (NYSH: ASH), today announced the addition of a coatings and construction lab in its Shanghai Technical Center. With 20 additional chemists, the newly expanded technical center houses state-of-the-art laboratory facilities for research and development (R&D), application technology and services for coatings and construction, personal care, pharmaceutical, food and beverage customers in China. The facility is located in Shanghai's Caohejing Industrial Park and currently employs approximately 50 chemists.

Within the coatings sector, Ashland offers analytical and testing resources to continually assess market trends and develop next-generation additives that help customers improve the performance and value of their paint and coatings products. In addition to architectural, industrial, specialty and wood coatings, Ashland provides functional additives for paint removers, universal colorants and emulsion polymerization.

In construction, Ashland products perform in a variety of applications including cement-based tile adhesives, renders, concrete, external insulation systems, mortar cements and self-leveling compounds. They provide functional properties including thickening and rheology control, water retention, adhesive strength, binding power, film formation, conditioning and deposition, colloid stabilization, suspending and emulsifying action.

"The newly expanded Shanghai Technical Center plays a key part in our global R&D network. It will help us drive our focus on innovation for the region and position us to achieve our goal of being the preferred specialty ingredient supplier," said Dr. May Shana'a, group vice president, Technology and Growth Strategy, Ashland Specialty Ingredients.

Edward Connors, group vice president, Industrial Specialties, Ashland Specialty Ingredients said, "We are committed to China's coatings and construction markets and have maximized our efforts in technology advancement. This new lab and our Nanjing manufacturing facility represent strategic investments aimed at helping our customers win in China's competitive market."

"With the addition of the coatings and construction lab, Ashland Specialty Ingredients Shanghai Technical Center is now well positioned to provide our China customers a fast and reliable technical support tailored for their needs," said Nandu Dhekne, vice president, Asia Pacific, Ashland Specialty Ingredients.

About Ashland Specialty Ingredients
Ashland Specialty Ingredients offers industry-leading products, technologies and resources for solving formulation and product performance challenges in key markets including personal care, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, coatings and energy. Using natural, synthetic and semi-synthetic polymers derived from plant and seed extract, cellulose ethers and vinyl pyrrolidones, Ashland Specialty Ingredients offers comprehensive and innovative solutions for today's demanding consumer and industrial applications.

About Ashland Inc.
In more than 100 countries, the people of Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) provide the specialty chemicals, technologies and insights to help customers create new and improved products for today and sustainable solutions for tomorrow. Our chemistry is at work every day in a wide variety of markets and applications, including architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, food and beverage, personal care, pharmaceutical, tissue and towel, and water treatment. Visit ashland.com to see the innovations we offer through our four commercial units - Ashland Specialty Ingredients, Ashland Water Technologies, Ashland Performance Materials and Ashland Consumer Markets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Media Relations
Helen Pei
+86 (21) 2402-4863
bpei@ashland.com