Ashland Announces Addition of Construction Lab to its Shanghai Technical Center for R&D

Shanghai, China - Ashland Specialty Ingredients, a commercial unit of Ashland Inc. (NYSH: ASH) 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 Shanghais 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 includingthickening 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 Shanaa, 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 Chinas 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 Chinas 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.

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