Denham Springs company expands in Asia Pacific

Bercen Inc., a key manufacturer of alkenyl succinic anhydride and specialty coating additives for paper-related industries, is expanding its operations in the Asia Pacific region. Based in Denham Springs, Bercen has been a major supplier to the paper industry for more than 30 years and has significantly expanded its customer base over the past decade. Sale inquiries continue to grow, the company says, with emphasis on the rapidly expanding Chinese paper production market. Bercen’s new facility will be located on Jurong Island in Singapore, and the company expects to have it operational by December. The expansion will consist of 1,600 metric tons of storage space to supply Bercen’s existing customer base and allow for expansion. “This is the first of a three-phase strategy to address the growing Asia Pacific market. Immediately, we will significantly slash our customers’ transit time from 45 days to 7 days, for most ports of entry,” says David Irwin, Bercen vice president of sales and marketing. “We will transition into phase two, consisting of a custom ASA blending capability to address specific requirements of our customers. Phase three will be a full-scale production facility.”