Country Business Reports interviews and articles by Discovery Reports www.discoveryreports.com Meltex, a manufacturer of high-quality surface-finishing chemicals for the premium segment, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year with an aggressive expansion plan and a call for partnerships. Known for a patented chemical that uniformly smoothens out surfaces, Meltex supports its biggest customers in countries such as Japan, South Korea, mainland China, Taiwan, Thailand and Germany. The company is building a new factory in Japan and boosting production capacity in Thailand to meet the growing needs of clients that manufacture semiconductors, multilayer ceramic components and printed circuit boards. The new local plant will support the semiconductor industry with highly controlled clean rooms while allowing the company to continue developing environmentally friendly products. The bigger facility in Thailand will host mass production, augment direct shipments to Singapore and expand service capacity to the Philippines. We are excited to work with clients and partners in developing and advancing new surface-treatment chemicals for the next generation Katsumi Furuhashi, president and CEO With the groundwork for expansion on the way, Meltex is keen to attract more players from the automotive industry. It is specifically focusing on the electric vehicle and hybrid car markets and tier 1 and 2 suppliers by providing state-of-the-art chemicals for heat sinks and other innovative products. The company also envisions to grow its customer base in the electronics industry particularly producers of power modules, sensors and other high-end items. To this end, Meltex is leveraging its research centres in Japan and Taiwan. China remains to be the most challenging market due to its enormity, but Meltex continues with a positive outlook for its vision to become global. The company is forming partnerships with established Taiwanese, South Korean and other brands bringing their businesses to mainland China, and is looking to penetrate Vietnam using the same strategy. “We are excited to work with clients and partners in developing and advancing new surface-treatment chemicals for the next generation,” says president and CEO Katsumi Furuhashi. “Our high-grade products offer solutions that easily set us apart from other players in the region.” www.meltex.com