NCH Thailand has budgeted US$1 million (33.2 million baht) for 2019 to expand its chemical plant in Chachoengsao province after seeing an uptick in demand from industrial plants because of the government's flagship Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) scheme.
NCH provides integrated industrial and commercial maintenance products and services and this expansion for lubricant oil is expected to be completed in the next few years.
Earlier, the Texas-based parent firm invested $5 million in an expansion project for cleaning products and other products in Thailand.
"NCH aims to increase its investment up to four times from $5 million in the next three years," said country manager Rod Arellano. "We also aim for Thailand to be the hub for Southeast Asia, and the country itself has been the centre for the manufacturing sector in the region over the past four decades."
Mr Arellano said NCH expects to export lubricant products to the Philippines, Vietnam, India and Singapore.
NCH imports lubricant products from the US. Thailand will be the first country in Southeast Asia to produce these products.
NCH's local facility sales are 60% commodities products, with the remainder taken up by specialty products.
The local unit has 49 years of business experience in Thailand and plans to proactively penetrate the industrial maintenance market.
Thailand is the third country where NCH provides full services, after South Korea and Japan.
NCH focuses on the commercial, industrial and infrastructure sectors, aiming to expand its new customer base in the EEC area from 70% to 85% this year.
The company expects to reach 100% of customers in the EEC area within the next three years.
"Thailand has strong potential for investment relative to other countries in the region due to its central location and government support and promotion of new investment flows and modern logistics in the EEC over the past few years," Mr Arellano said.
NCH Thailand was set up in 1969 and has 120 employees.