What have been the main developments at Afton Chemical over the last two years?

Afton Chemical is focused on additive technologies (petroleum additives) for lubricants and fuels solutions used in the automotive, commercial transport and industrial segments. In the last two years, we’ve continued to invest; we announced a third phase investment at our chemical additive manufacturing facility in Singapore to expand our GPA (Gasoline Performance Additives) production capacity. Globally, we also supported strategic growth markets in Asia and Latin America with investments in Mexico, Brazil and India. Decentralized global operations allow us to reduce shipping routes and be more carbon efficient.

How is Afton’s global presence helping the company mitigate the impact of Covid-19 and market volatility?

Outside of the obvious demand reduction during lockdowns globally in 2020, the stalling of container movement and changes in the refinery outputs impacting certain key industry raw materials globally were the biggest disruptions the industry had to manage. However, our global presence provided us with a level of insulation against these threats and we were able to continue to support customers and sustain activity.  Since the pandemic broke out in China, we looked at the situation as a crisis management issue. We took very early steps to mitigate risks and continue to invest, ensuring we could safely run our operations and support our customers.

How is Afton adapting its solutions to the hybrid and electric vehicles (EV) market?

The e-mobility sector has been one of the fastest-growing in the automotive market. We launched the world’s first complete ETF (Electric Transmission Fluids) additive package in the industry with full coverage for direct or indirect cooling for single or multi-speed eAxles.

The internal combustion engine (ICE) evolution towards reduced emissions and hybrid energy sources entails different lubricant requirements. We have worked on understanding the different needs of these designs with OEMs. As leaders in direct injection gasoline performance, we are closely engaging with regulatory bodies in China and Indonesia as they drive their Blue Sky initiatives, not just in additive solutions but also in establishing test developments to measure improvements.

What is Afton’s expansion strategy?

Though well-established markets like Europe, US and China remain the business’s bedrock, demographic changes such as wealth improvements and the rise of the middle classes in developing countries will bring more opportunities for the automotive sector and its related industries.   As part of Afton’s ten-year journey, we have been particularly committed to investment in Latin America, India, Africa and ASEAN, where we see the next generation of growth potential.

The ongoing focus will continue to be on emissions reduction and beyond EV, we also develop wind turbine solutions to tap into that growth story too as they become more and more part of the Asia power grid.

How are your products and business management plan contributing to sustainability?

Sustainability is no longer a choice; it is a business expectation and responsibility. We look at it in two ways: first, we need to be sustainable in how we design, manufacture and distribute our products, something we regulate internally through our Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), and to continually seek improvements in our product development process to reduce environmental footprint. 

We also support our customers from a business continuity planning through strict adherence to our corporate governance and policies to ensure that customers and suppliers who choose to deal with us are ensured of ethical practices and exposed to minimal risks. We source our raw materials responsibly ensuring they are from sustainable sources and protect human rights for all labour in our supply chain. As a founding member of Responsible Care^®, Afton is transparent in our disclosures to carbon and sustainability metrics reporting and open in our product hazard communications. If we cannot secure circularity, we look at reusability as a sustainable solution.

Our products are designed to help the next generation of vehicles reduce emissions and extend the lifespan of equipment lines for optimal use.  As such, the intent is always around enabling sustainability through equipment design evolution and long-term use.

Could you briefly express the key objectives moving forward?

We commit to providing our team an open and collaborative working environment, with development opportunities that ensure we continue to deliver Passion For Solutions^® - Afton’s philosophy in the way we do business that emphasizes our enthusiastic people delivering innovative chemistry and effective solutions to our customers.