Hammond Group Grows International Presence

Hammond Group says its beginings in the Lake County city can be traced back to 1930.

A more than 80-year-old northwest Indiana chemical company has acquired a Malaysian business. Hammond Group Inc.’s deal for Asia Litharge Sdn Bhd, or ALSB, expands its global footprint, which includes an operation in the United Kingdom.

Hammond Group, headquartered in its namesake city, produces lead oxides, specialty chemicals for lead-acid batteries and negative plate expanders, which are used in industrial battery applications.

HGI Executive Vice President Steve Bolanowski says "Hammond enjoyed a twenty plus year joint venture partnership with Lim Goh Eng Holdings, and this was an appropriate time for LGEH to harvest its investment and for HGI to assume full control. With its strategic location at Port Klang, Malaysia, ALSB is our manufacturing base serving Asia’s lead-acid battery market. We have produced the specialty battery additive tetrabasic lead sulfate under our SureCure trade name for years, and new production at ALSB will allow Asian customers to acquire the specialty additive at considerably lower cost than from U.S. sourcing. This transaction also provides HGI an exceptional opportunity to introduce our Freedom Line  and K2 Expanders to serve growing Asian demand for high performance expanders, especially the emerging market for partial state-of-charge solutions."

HGI recently completed a lead-acid battery laboratory and is in the process of building a high-capacity expander production plant at the Lake County location. The company also has a production facility in Pennsylvania. It’s products are used in industrial and automotive batteries.