SurTec, the global supplier of speciality chemicals for surface treatment, has already been active in Vietnam for 10 years. In 2019, SurTec opened a new production site in the south of Ho Chi Minh City, which is designed to supply the entire Southeast Asian region with products for chemical surface technology in the medium term. With an annual production capacity of 5,000 tonnes, the facility is geared to the rapid growth in Vietnam and neighbouring markets.
Vietnam is an emerging player in Asia and the location is an investment in a market that will grow disproportionately. Many global corporations are currently expanding their production bases from South Korea, Japan and China to Vietnam. SurTec as a supplier is therefore optimally positioned for this trend. The production offers even better support for local customers and a significant reduction of delivery times in the region. Vietnam is the fourth production site of the SurTec Group in Asia, besides China, Japan and India.
A leader in surface technology
SurTec, part of the Freudenberg Group headquartered in Germany, is an innovation leader in the field of chemical products for surface technology and supplies well-known customers in important market segments such as automotive and electronics with high-quality process chemicals for Metal Pre-treatment, Industrial Parts Cleaning as well as Functional and Decorative Electroplating. In Vietnam, SurTec supplies in particular the electronics and consumer electronics industry as well as the textile industry with highly efficient, environmentally friendly products. Cleaning systems, especially for consumer electronics or the textile industry, are also in great demand in Vietnam. Customers can rely on consistent production qualities, as all production sites are certified and work to the same high standards worldwide.
Vietnam - the ideal location
In Vietnam, SurTec can rely on an excellent, highly trained team. The industrial park takes excellent care of the company and there are very good long-term conditions for investors. For the future, SurTec plans to expand production capacities and extend the laboratories into a regional technical centre in order to serve customers in Southeast Asia even better. Wherever possible, local and environmentally friendly raw materials are used and attention is paid to short distances within supply chains.
Sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies
In every respect, environmentally friendly, sustainable products are becoming increasingly important. SurTec is a pioneer in this area. This includes, for example, the replacement of previously used chemicals classified as environmentally critical with products that are equivalent in performance and do not contain these critical substances. This also includes the reduction of material use through the development of recyclable processes.
Only when truly recyclable cleaners came onto the market solvent-based industrial cleaners could be replaced. For decades, working without chromates for corrosion protection was unthinkable - today, trivalent passivations are standard. SurTec broke new ground in both areas and grew with the increasingly successful new processes. Scientists at the research and development centres in Germany and Brazil work on new alloys, passivations, cold sealing systems and sealers that are allergen-free, efficient and easy to handle. Parts treated with SurTec technology are not only found in the home or on the street, they also fly through the stratosphere or float on the seas.
World leader in passivation of aluminium
In addition to Industrial Parts Cleaning, Metal Pre-treatment is of particular interest to the region. Here, SurTec has succeeded in developing highly efficient products that replace the toxic chromium(VI) with chromium(III), which is less harmful to the environment and users. This includes SurTec 650, a chromium(III) passivation for aluminium, which is characterised, among other things, by its low surface resistance. In the expanding market of the electronics industry, SurTec 650 is the market leader in Vietnam. Due to its outstanding bare metal corrosion protection and excellent paint adhesion, the passivation is also the global benchmark technology in the aerospace, automotive and architectural industries. Leading global 5G providers also rely on SurTec 650 for the effective protection of their 5G antennas and masts against corrosion.
Chemical deburring for the highest quality requirements
Wherever burrs have to be removed with the highest precision in hard-to-reach places, it makes sense to use chemical deburring processes. These work very evenly over a wide concentration range, reliably maintaining reproducibly tight tolerances. Burrs down to a few tenths of a millimetre in size can be reliably removed.
This concerns, for example, components for consumer electronics or needles produced for the textile machinery industry, gears required in the watch industry, injection nozzles produced for the automotive industry or components from general mechanical engineering, e.g. valve bodies, chain links, etc. A new chemical deburring process from SurTec for small, complexly turned, stamped and milled parts made of hardened and unhardened ferritic steel enables the gentle and reliable deburring of components that have to meet the highest quality requirements.
Great focus on occupational health and safety
The surface technology company SurTec develops, produces and distributes chemical specialities for surface treatment. With its four application fields Industrial Parts Cleaning, Metal Pre-treatment, Functional and Decorative Electroplating, SurTec covers the full portfolio in this field.
SurTec is certified according to the international standard ISO 9001 (quality management). The additional certifications according to OHSAS 18001 respective ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 underline the important corporate goals of occupational health and safety as well as environmental compatibility and resource conservation.
