Ashland Brings Resin Line to Composite Fabricators in India

DUBLIN, Ohio - Indian composite fabricators who are looking for top quality resins for use in building and construction, transportation, and wind energy applications can now obtain AROPOL™, HETRON®, MODAR® and AROTRAN®, resins from Ashland Composite Polymers, a business group of Ashland Performance Materials, a division of Ashland Inc. These resins are recognized by global composite fabricators for delivering proven and reliable performance backed by Ashland's knowledge and support in a number of composite applications.

"Our DERAKANE® epoxy vinyl ester resin has enjoyed many years of success in India, and we are excited to fulfill our customers' growing needs by making a wider range of products available locally in India," said Bharat Chhabria, business development manager, Ashland Inc. (India). "Now our customers can conveniently leverage the Ashland quality and technical expertise locally in India."

AROPOL is Ashland's line of quality polyester resins that features a long history of proven corrosion performance in pipes, tanks and other structures. These resins also have proven performance in the fast growing wind energy market for blades, nacelle covers and other components. AROPOL resins have a wide variety of formulations providing composite fabricators with flexibility in meeting their process and product requirements.

For the fire-retardant market, HETRON resins provide engineers and architects with the ability to implement their creative vision with composites and still meet demanding industrial and building regulatory requirements. The resins feature improved wetting and low shrinkage for ultimate performance in architectural applications.

MODAR resins provide mass transit and rail industry engineers and building architects with the ability to meet strict low-flame, low-smoke/toxicity construction requirements. MODAR resins are available in different formulations for optimum performance in numerous processes, including contact molding, filament winding and pultrusion infusion.

AROTRAN resins are the recognized leaders in providing composites that exhibit excellent Class A finishes, structural performance and high heat resistance for the demanding requirements of automotive and other transportation markets. AROTRAN resins for the transportation industry provide original equipment manufacturers proven technology for a range of applications and processes including sheet molding compound, bulk molding compound and resin transfer molding processes.

Ashland India Private Limited, a subsidiary of Ashland Inc., is headquartered in Mumbai and administers the sales and marketing operations for Ashland's divisions located in India. In addition, Ashland participates in two Indian joint ventures: Chembond Drewtreat Ltd., and Valvoline Cummins Ltd.

Ashland Inc., a diversified, global chemical company, provides quality products, services and solutions to customers in more than 100 countries. A FORTUNE 500 company, it operates through four divisions: Ashland Performance Materials, Ashland Distribution, Valvoline and Ashland Water Technologies.