Producer
Ashland Global Holdings (formerly ISP)
Specialty chemical company; acquired International Specialty Products (ISP) in 2011 bringing the leading US NMP production capacity; manufactures high-purity NMP for medical, electronics, and battery applications; one of five major Western NMP suppliers serving medical-grade dialysis membrane production alongside BASF, Eastman, LyondellBasell, and Mitsubishi Chemical
2
Inputs supplied
2
Goods downstream
2
Facilities
0
Stories
What they make
2 inputs Ashland Global Holdings (formerly ISP) supplies
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Goods downstream
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Where they make it
2 facilities
Ashland Calvert City Kentucky Chemical Plant →
USKentucky · processing
Ashland (formerly ISP) chemical manufacturing site in Calvert City KY; produces NMP and specialty pyrrolidone solvents; key US source of high-purity NMP for medical and electronics applications; NMP from this site serves dialysis membrane producers and semiconductor fabs
Ashland Global -- Covington, Kentucky (Specialty Polymers) →
USCovington, Kenton County, Kentucky, USA · chemical_plant
Ashland Global specialty polymer production including Acrysol and other carbomer-type cross-linked PAA alternatives. Ashland (formerly International Specialty Products / ISP) is the primary US alternative to Lubrizol Carbopol for pharmaceutical gel formulation. Covington KY across the river from Cincinnati OH.
What else they do
Business segments
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Life Sciences (Cellulosics & Excipients)
35%Specialty Additives (NMP & Solvents)
25%Industrial Specialties
25%Intermediates & Solvents
15%
Intelligence
What's known
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Did you know2023
Ashland's NMP (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone) simultaneously serves EV battery cathode slurry processing (dissolving PVDF binder for NMC cathode coating), semiconductor manufacturing (photoresist stripping in chip fabrication), pharmaceutical synthesis (solvent for APIs including HIV drugs), and aerospace paint stripping (military aircraft paint removal). The same NMP molecule from the same Ashland production facility handles the most prominent technology transition of the 2020s (EVs), the most complex manufacturing process in existence (semiconductor chips), drug synthesis for global health, and military aircraft maintenance. As EV battery production scaled up 2020-2024, NMP demand surged, and semiconductor fabs, pharmaceutical companies, and aerospace MRO shops faced simultaneously constrained NMP supply from the same industrial solvent producers including Ashland.
Ashland Global Holdings Inc. ↗Origin2023
Ashland Global Holdings traces to Ashland Oil and Refining Company, founded in 1924 in Catlettsburg, Kentucky as a small petroleum refiner. For 80+ years it was primarily an oil refining and fuel distribution company. The strategic transformation into specialty chemicals began in earnest with the 2011 acquisition of ISP (International Specialty Products) for $3.3B, which brought leading NMP (N-methylpyrrolidone) production, PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone) manufacturing, and other specialty chemical capabilities. Ashland then divested its remaining oil and fuel businesses, including its Valvoline motor oil business (IPO 2016) and its crude oil transportation business, to become a pure-play specialty chemicals company. A Kentucky petroleum company transformed itself into the primary US supplier of the NMP solvent that EV battery cathode manufacturers need to make battery slurry -- the same company that used to refine coal-derived fuel now supplies the solvent for the batteries replacing fossil fuels.
Ashland Global Holdings Inc. ↗