Asbury Carbons Inc. will open a new plant in Lumberton, N.C., making graphite products for plastics and other markets.
Work to convert the 142,000-square-foot site will begin later this year, with production set to launch by the end of 2016, officials with the Asbury, N.J.-based firm said in a June 1 news release.
The new plant will make Asbury's Graphite Nano Platelet (GNP) materials and other products. It will be the firm's first U.S. site to use its next-generation clean technology. Asbury currently uses that technology at a plant in the Netherlands. The firm also operates six other U.S. production sites.
For the plastics market, Asbury supplies coke and specialty graphite, both natural and synthetic, which provide lubrication and wear and enhance the conductivity of plastic. The firm offers a complete line of graphite and carbon dispersions.
The firm traces its history to 1895, when founder Harry Riddle leased a flour mill to refine raw graphite in Asbury.