Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
NewMarket Corporation (NewMarket) (NYSE: NEU) is a holding company and is the parent company of Afton Chemical Corporation (Afton), Ethyl Corporation (Ethyl), American Pacific Corporation (AMPAC), NewMarket Services Corporation (NewMarket Services), and NewMarket Development Corporation (NewMarket Development). We acquired AMPAC on January 16, 2024, for approximately $697 million.
Each of our subsidiaries manages its own assets and liabilities. Afton manufactures and sells petroleum additives, while Ethyl markets antiknock compounds in North America and performs contracted manufacturing and related services. AMPAC is a manufacturer of specialty materials primarily used in solid rocket motors for the aerospace and defense industries. NewMarket Development manages the real property that we own in Virginia. NewMarket Services provides various administrative services to NewMarket, Afton, Ethyl, AMPAC, and NewMarket Development. NewMarket Services expenses are billed to each subsidiary pursuant to services agreements between the companies.
References in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “we,” “us,” “our,” and “NewMarket” are to NewMarket Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
As a specialty chemicals company, Afton develops and manufactures highly formulated lubricant and fuel additive packages and markets and sells these products worldwide. Afton is one of the largest lubricant and fuel additives companies in the world. Lubricant and fuel additives are necessary products for efficient and reliable operation of vehicles and machinery. From custom-formulated additive packages to market-general additives, we believe Afton provides customers with products and solutions that make engines run smoother, machines last longer, and fuels burn cleaner.
Through an open, flexible, and collaborative style, Afton works closely with its customers to understand their business and help them meet their goals. This style has allowed Afton to develop long-term relationships with its customers in every major region of the world, which Afton serves through its manufacturing facilities across the globe.
Afton has operations in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. The economies are generally stable in the countries where we do most of our business, although many of those countries experience economic challenges from time to time. In countries with more political or economic uncertainty, we generally minimize our risk of loss by utilizing U.S. Dollar-denominated transactions, letters of credit, and prepaid transactions.
With approximately 450 employees in research, development, and testing, Afton is dedicated to developing additive formulations that are tailored to our customers’ and the end-users’ specific needs. Afton’s portfolio of technologically-advanced, value-added products allows it to provide a full range of products, services, and solutions to its customers.
Ethyl provides contracted manufacturing and related services to Afton and to third parties and is a marketer of antiknock compounds in North America.
AMPAC has operations in the United States and manufactures and sells specialty materials used in solid rocket motors for space launch and military defense applications. AMPAC has long-term relationships with customers and the ability to formulate products to meet the various specification requirements of its customers, resulting in AMPAC being a global leader in specialty materials for use in solid rocket motors.
NewMarket Development manages the real property we own in Richmond, Virginia consisting of approximately 50 acres. Our corporate offices are included in this acreage, as well as a research and testing facility, and several acres dedicated to other uses. We are exploring various development opportunities for portions of the property as the demand warrants. This effort is ongoing in nature.
We were incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2004. Our principal executive offices are located at 330 South Fourth Street, Richmond, Virginia, and our telephone number is (804) 788-5000.
Business Segments
For the periods presented in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our business was composed of two segments, petroleum additives, which is primarily represented by Afton, and specialty materials, which is represented by AMPAC. The antiknock compounds business of Ethyl is reflected in the “All other” category. Each of these is discussed below.
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Petroleum Additives - Petroleum additives are used in lubricating oils and fuels to enhance their performance in machinery, vehicles, and other equipment. We manufacture chemical components that are selected to perform one or more specific functions and combine those chemicals with other chemicals or components to form additive packages for use in specified end-user applications. The petroleum additives market is a global marketplace, with customers ranging from large, integrated oil companies to national, regional, and independent companies.
We believe our success in the petroleum additives market is largely due to our ability to deliver value to our customers through our products and our open, flexible, and collaborative working style. We accomplish this by understanding what our customers value and by applying our technical capabilities, formulation expertise, broadly differentiated product solutions, and global supply capabilities to satisfy our customers' needs. We invest significantly in research and development in order to meet our customers’ needs and to adapt to the rapidly changing environment for new and improved products and services.
We view the petroleum additives marketplace as being comprised of two broad product applications: lubricant additives and fuel additives. Lubricant additives are highly formulated chemical solutions that, when blended with base fluids, improve the efficiency, durability, performance, and functionality of mineral oils, synthetic oils, and biodegradable fluids, thereby enhancing the performance of machinery and engines. Fuel additives are chemical components that help oil refiners meet fuel specifications or formulated packages that improve the performance of gasoline, diesel, biofuels, and other fuels, resulting in lower operating costs, improved vehicle performance, and reduced emissions.
Lubricant Additives
Lubricant additives are essential ingredients for making lubricating oils. Lubricant additives are used in a wide variety of vehicle and industrial applications, including engine oils, transmission fluids, off-road powertrain and hydraulic systems, gear oils, hydraulic oils, and turbine oils, and virtually any other application where metal-to-metal moving parts are utilized. Lubricant additives are organic and synthetic chemical components that enhance wear protection, prevent deposits, and protect against the hostile operating environment of an engine, transmission, axle, hydraulic pump, or industrial machine.
Lubricants are widely used in operating machinery from transportation vehicles to heavy industrial equipment. Lubricants provide a layer of protection between moving mechanical parts. Without this layer of protection, the normal functioning of machinery would not occur. Effective lubricants reduce downtime and increase efficiency. Specifically, lubricants serve the following main functions:
• friction reduction—Friction is reduced by maintaining a thin film of lubricant between moving surfaces, preventing them from coming into direct contact with one another and reducing wear on moving machinery, thereby providing longer life and operational efficiency.
• heat removal — Lubricants act as coolants by removing heat resulting either from friction or through contact with other, higher temperature materials.
• containment of contaminants — Lubricants function by carrying contaminants away from the machinery and neutralizing the harmful impact of the by-products created by combustion.
The functionality of lubricants is created through an exact balance between a base fluid and performance-enhancing additives. This balance is the goal of effective formulations achieved by experienced research and development professionals. We offer a full line of lubricant additive packages, each of which is composed of component chemicals specially selected to perform desired functions. We manufacture most of the chemical components and blend these components to create formulated additive packages designed to meet industry and customer specifications. Lubricant additive components are generally classified based upon their intended functionality, including:
• detergents, which clean moving parts of engines and machines, suspend oil contaminants and combustion by-products, and absorb acidic combustion products;
• dispersants, which serve to inhibit the formation of sludge and particulates;
• extreme pressure/antiwear agents, which reduce wear on moving engine and machinery parts;
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• viscosity index modifiers, which improve the viscosity and temperature characteristics of lubricants and help the lubricant flow evenly to all parts of an engine or machine; and
• antioxidants, which prevent oil from degrading over time.
We are one of the leading global suppliers of specially formulated lubricant additives that combine some or all of the components described above to develop our products. Our products are highly formulated, complex chemical compositions derived from extensive research and testing to ensure all additive components work together to provide the intended results. Our products are engineered to meet specifications prescribed by either the industry or a specific customer. Purchasers of lubricant additives tend to be integrated oil companies or independent compounders/blenders. We make no sales directly to end-users or to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
We view our participation in the lubricant marketplace in three primary areas: engine oil additives, driveline additives, and industrial additives. Our view is not necessarily the same way others view the market.
Engine Oil Additives - The largest submarket within the lubricant additives marketplace is engine oil additives which consists of additives designed for passenger cars, motorcycles, on and off-road heavy duty commercial equipment, locomotives, and large engines in ocean-going vessels. We estimate engine oil additives represent approximately 70% of the overall lubricant additives market volume.
The engine oil market’s primary customers include consumers, fleet owners, mining and construction companies, farmers, railroads, shipping companies, service dealers, and OEMs. The primary functions of engine oil additives are to reduce friction, prevent wear, control formation of sludge and oxidation, and prevent rust. Engine oil additives are typically sold to lubricant manufacturers who combine them with a base oil fluid to meet internal, industry, and OEM specifications.
Key drivers of engine oil additives demand are the number of vehicles on the road, total vehicle miles driven, fuel economy, the average age of vehicles on the road, drain intervals, engine and crankcase size, changes in engine design, and temperature and specification changes driven by OEMs. The extension of drain intervals has generally offset increased demand due to higher vehicle population, new hardware, and more miles driven. Other key drivers include industrial production rates, agricultural output, mining and construction output, environmental regulations, and infrastructure investments of commercial companies. Afton offers products that enhance the performance of mineral, part-synthetic, and fully-synthetic engine oils.
Driveline Additives - The driveline additives submarket is comprised of additives designed for products such as transmission fluids, axle fluids, and off-road powertrain fluids. This submarket shares in the 30% of the market not covered by engine oil additives. Transmission fluids primarily serve as the power transmission and heat transfer medium in the area of the transmission where the torque of the drive shaft is transferred to the gears of the vehicle. Axle fluids lubricate gears and bearings in axles, and powertrain fluids are used in off-highway powertrain and hydraulic systems. Other products in this area include power steering fluids, shock absorber fluids, gear oils, and lubricants for heavy machinery. Additionally, as a leading additive supplier to the electric vehicle market, we are investing in and delivering new technologies to enable electric vehicle market growth to help reduce carbon emissions. We anticipated and are responding to the need for future lubricants to consider conductivity, the effect of electric fields, low friction/high speed, noise, and battery cooling or copper wire drawing. All driveline additives products must conform to highly prescribed specifications developed by vehicle OEMs for specific models or designs. Driveline additives are generally sold to oil companies for ultimate sale to vehicle OEMs for new vehicles (factory-fill), service dealers for aftermarket servicing (service-fill), retailers, and distributors.
Key drivers of the driveline additives marketplace are the number of vehicles manufactured, total number of vehicles in operation, drain intervals for transmission fluids and axle fluids, changes in engine and transmission design and temperatures, and specification changes driven by OEMs.
Industrial Additives - The industrial additives submarket is comprised of additives designed for products for industrial applications such as hydraulic fluids, grease, industrial gear fluids, and industrial specialty applications, such as turbine oils. This submarket also shares in the 30% of the market not covered by engine oil additives. These products must conform to industry specifications, OEM requirements, and/or application and operating environment demands. Industrial additives are generally sold to oil companies, service dealers for after-market servicing, and distributors.
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Key drivers of the industrial additives marketplace are gross domestic product levels and industrial production.
Fuel Additives
Fuel additives are chemical compounds that are used to improve both the oil refining process and the performance of gasoline, diesel, biofuels, and other fuels. Benefits of fuel additives in the oil refining process include reduced use of crude oil, lower processing costs, and improved fuel storage properties. Fuel performance additives enhance fuel economy, improve ignition and combustion efficiency, reduce emission particulates, maintain engine cleanliness, and protect against deposits in fuel injectors, intake valves, and the combustion chamber. Our fuel additives are extensively tested and designed to meet stringent industry, government, OEM, and individual customer requirements.
Many different types of additives are used in fuels. Their use is generally determined by customer, industry, OEM, and government specifications, and often differs from country to country. The types of fuel additives we offer include:
• gasoline performance additives, which clean and maintain key elements of the fuel delivery systems, including fuel injectors and intake valves, in gasoline engines;
• diesel fuel performance additives, which perform similar cleaning functions in diesel engines;
• cetane improvers, which increase the cetane number (ignition quality) in diesel fuel by reducing the delay between injection and ignition;
• stabilizers, which reduce or eliminate oxidation in fuel;
• corrosion inhibitors, which minimize the corrosive effects of combustion by-products and prevent rust;
• lubricity additives, which restore lubricating properties lost in the refining process;
• cold flow improvers, which improve the pumping and flow of distillate and diesel fuels in cold temperatures; and
• static dissipating additives.
We offer a broad line of fuel additives worldwide and sell our products to major fuel marketers and refiners, as well as independent terminals and other fuel blenders.
Key drivers in the fuel additive marketplace include total vehicle miles driven, fuel economy, the introduction of new engine designs, regulations on emissions (both gasoline and diesel), quality of the crude oil slate and performance standards, and marketing programs of major oil companies.
Competition
We believe we are one of the four largest manufacturers and suppliers in the petroleum additives marketplace.
In the lubricant additives submarket, our major competitors are The Lubrizol Corporation (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.), Infineum (a joint venture between ExxonMobil Chemical and Shell plc), and Chevron Oronite Company LLC. There are several other suppliers in the worldwide market who are competitors in their particular product areas.
The fuel additives submarket is characterized by more competitors. While we participate in many facets of the fuel additives market, our competitors tend to be more narrowly focused. In the gasoline detergent market, we compete mainly against BASF, Chevron Oronite Company LLC, Innospec Inc., and The Lubrizol Corporation. In the diesel and refinery markets, we compete mainly against The Lubrizol Corporation, Infineum, BASF, Clariant Ltd., Dorf Ketal, and Innospec Inc. We also compete against other regional companies in the fuel additives marketplace.
The competition among the participants in these industries is characterized by the need to provide customers with cost effective, technologically-capable products that meet or exceed industry specifications. The need to continually increase technology performance and lower cost through formulation technology and cost improvement programs is vital for success in this environment.
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Specialty Materials - Our specialty materials segment is principally engaged in the production of perchlorates, which include several grades of ammonium perchlorate, sodium perchlorate, and potassium perchlorate.
Ammonium perchlorate is a key component of solid rocket motors, booster motors, and missiles that are utilized in U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) tactical and strategic missile programs. Currently, there is no alternative to the use of these solid rocket motors for national security applications, and due to the critical role of ammonium perchlorate in such motors, we believe that the U.S. government views us as a strategic national resource. Ammonium perchlorate is also used in space exploration programs for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and commercial space launch vehicles.
We supply ammonium perchlorate for use in a number of defense and space launch programs of the U.S. and U.S. allies via U.S. government agencies, government contractors and foreign contractors. Exporting ammonium perchlorate is subject to federal regulation that permits our foreign sales of ammonium perchlorate. We obtain export licenses on a case-by-case basis, which are dependent upon the ultimate use of our product.
Customers of ammonium perchlorate primarily consist of rocket motor manufacturers supplying the DOD and NASA programs, as well as entities providing commercial space launch applications and foreign military applications.
Demand for ammonium perchlorate is program-specific and dependent upon, among other things, governmental appropriations. The need for tactical rockets, strategic missiles, and solid rocket boosters is anticipated to provide the base demand over the coming five-year period and beyond.
We also produce and sell different types and grades of sodium and potassium perchlorates, which have a wide variety of applications, including munitions, explosives, propellants, perchloric acid, initiators, electronics, batteries, plastics, electro-machining, and porcelain.
Competition
We believe we are the largest manufacturer and seller of ammonium perchlorate globally. We are aware of other production capacity in the United States for perchlorate chemicals, including ammonium perchlorate, as well as production capacity in France, Japan, Brazil, China, India, and Taiwan. While we have limited information with respect to these facilities, we believe that these producers are not qualified as ammonium perchlorate suppliers for most DOD and NASA programs, which represents the majority of domestic ammonium perchlorate demand.
Competition among producers of ammonium perchlorate is characterized by the ability to meet customer specifications including unique particle size requirements, reasonable lead times, and qualification of a given production process. The need to maintain a qualified production process and meet changing demand requirements is vital for success in this environment.
All Other - The “All other” category includes the operations of the antiknock compounds business (primarily sales of antiknock compounds in North America), as well as certain contracted manufacturing and related services performed by Ethyl. The Ethyl facility is located in Houston, Texas and is substantially dedicated to terminal operations related to antiknock compounds and other fuel additives. The financial results of the petroleum additives activities performed by Ethyl are reflected in the petroleum additives segment results. The “All other” category financial results include a service fee charged by Ethyl for its production services to Afton.
Raw Materials and Product Supply
Petroleum Additives - We use a variety of raw materials and chemicals in our manufacturing and blending processes and believe the sources of these are adequate for our current operations. The primary raw materials for Afton are base oil, polyisobutylene, antioxidants, alcohols, solvents, detergents, friction modifiers, olefins, and copolymers.
As the performance requirements of our products become more complex, we often work with highly specialized suppliers. In some cases, we source from a single supplier. In such cases, we manage our risk by maintaining safety stock of the raw material or qualifying alternate suppliers, which could take additional time to implement, but we are confident we can ensure continued supply for our customers.
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While we have experienced improvement in the supply chain disruptions which impacted the petrochemicals industry over the past several years, we continuously monitor our raw material supply situation and adjust our procurement strategies as conditions require.
Specialty Materials - The primary raw materials for AMPAC are electricity, sodium chlorate, ammonia, and hydrochloric acid. Graphite is utilized in the fabrication of the electrolytic cells used in the manufacturing process and which are replaced on a periodic basis. All of the raw materials used in the manufacturing process are available in commercial quantities from multiple sources.
Research, Development, and Testing
Research, development, and testing (R&D) provides Afton with new performance-based solutions for our customers in the petroleum additives market. We develop products through a combination of chemical synthesis, formulation development, engineering design, and performance testing. In addition to developing new products, R&D provides our customers and OEMs with data to substantiate product differentiation and technical support to assure total customer satisfaction.
We are committed to providing the most advanced products, comprehensive testing programs, and superior technical solutions tailored to the needs of our customers and OEMs worldwide. Afton continues to successfully implement techniques to drive efficiency in technology discovery and development, while aligning our internal testing to market changes, research, customer support, and predictive capabilities around the world in support of our goals of providing market-driven technical leadership and performance-based differentiation. In 2024, we continued to invest in and progress our technology plans and have a team focused on adjacent spaces that can utilize our chemistry and technology.
Afton continues to develop new products and technology to keep our customers well-positioned for the future by meeting evolving OEM requirements, including specific demands of hybrid and electric vehicles, industry specifications, and environmental regulations. A significant portion of our R&D investment is dedicated to the development of products that are differentiated by their ability to deliver improved fuel efficiency and durability in addition to robust performance in a wide range of new vehicle and industrial equipment designs. Afton’s state-of-the art testing capabilities enable customized research in all areas of performance needed by both OEMs and tier one suppliers, including the latest advancements in e-mobility. Our leading-edge capabilities and fundamental understanding in the areas of combustion, friction control, energy efficiency, electric motor compatibility, and wear prevention are used to set the stage for next-generation products in all areas.
In line with Afton’s vision, we continue to focus our technology to make the world a better place by reducing the use of chemicals of concern, using more raw materials from sustainable sources, developing additives that enable some of the world’s most fuel efficient fluids, creating fuel additives that enable engines to be more efficient, and being a market leader in transmission fluids for full battery electric vehicles. We continue to operate our laboratories safely, and for the second year in a row, we achieved zero injuries across our R&D team globally.
In 2024, we successfully launched new technologies across all our lubricant additives and fuel additives product areas. We developed new engine oil products for passenger cars and commercial trucks in support of our customers in all the major regions of the world in which we operate, including engine oil technology designed for the latest passenger cars specifications such as GF-7.
We continued to develop new products in multiple application areas in the industrial additives sector, including hydraulic, industrial gear, turbine, slideway, and grease additives. Research is focused on the development of technologies that will provide differentiation to our customers in multiple performance areas, including equipment life, reliability, and energy efficiency, as well as eliminating or reducing chemicals of concern. This includes launching our next generation wind turbine technology which maintains our technology leadership in this important and growing market, as well as important new industrial gear products.
Research continued in our transmission fluid, axle oil, and tractor fluid product lines. This included the development of new OEM-specific additives used in factory-fill fluids installed during automotive component and vehicle assembly. We continue to launch new OEM-specific technology for full battery electric passenger and commercial vehicles and are a top supplier in this growing market. We developed new products for the service-fill sector to provide our customers with
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the latest additive technology available and continue to advance our market-leading and technology-leading battery electric vehicle transmission fluid which pushes the forefront of efficiency.
We also provide leading technology in the fuel additives area. In 2024, we developed new technology in both gasoline performance additives and diesel performance additives. This includes launching new products related to our next generation diesel technology that is designed for not only conventional, but also renewable diesel. In addition, we continue to maintain close interactions with regulatory, industry, and OEM leaders to guide our development of future fuel additives technologies based on well-defined market needs.
Afton remains committed to providing the most advanced products, comprehensive testing programs, and superior technical solutions tailored to the needs of our customers and OEMs worldwide.
Intellectual Property
Our intellectual property, including our patents, licenses, and trademarks, is an important component of our business. We actively protect our inventions, new technologies, and product developments by filing patent applications and maintaining trade secrets. We currently own approximately 1,400 issued or pending United States and foreign patents. In addition, we have acquired the rights under patents and inventions of others through licenses or otherwise. We take care to respect the intellectual property rights of others, and we believe our products do not infringe upon those rights. We vigorously participate in patent opposition proceedings around the world, where necessary, to secure a technology base free of infringement. We believe our patent position is strong, aggressively managed, and sufficient for the conduct of our business.
We also have several hundred trademark registrations throughout the world for our marks, including NewMarket ® , Afton Chemical ® , Ethyl ® , AMPAC ® , HiTEC ® , Passion for Solutions ® , Halotron ® , DriveMore ® , and Axcel ® .
Human Capital
Our Values are the foundation of our company and support the inclusive and respectful culture we have established in all of our locations around the world. Our Values include:
• unquestioned integrity,
• respect for people,
• safety and environmental responsibility,
• partnership with customers and suppliers,
• continuously improving quality,
• good citizenship, and
• economic viability.
We place the highest level of commitment on safety and strive to operate our business every day focused on its importance. Keeping our employees safe is a management priority.
We have a diverse workforce, representative of the geographic regions in which we do business. We place a high value on diverse thoughts, skills, perspectives, cultures, and knowledge because we believe that such diversity results in better business decision making. We employed approximately 2,060 people at the end of 2024. Approximately 1,100 were located in the United States, 400 were in the Europe/Middle East/Africa/India region, 300 were in the Asia Pacific region, and 200 were in the Latin America region. Approximately 20% of our workforce is represented by unions.
When we hire new employees, our goal is that they stay with us for the remainder of their career. Hiring the right people for the long-term and developing them for key roles is a critical focus area. To be successful, we must attract and retain a highly qualified and technically competent workforce, including key employees in R&D and leadership positions. In addition to utilizing our internal network, contacts, and specialized recruiters to identify and attract qualified personnel, we have established relationships with a number of universities globally and have intern and co-op programs in many of our locations.
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Globally, approximately 18% of our employees have 20 years or more of service, and over the three-year period from 2022 through 2024, our resignation rate was approximately 5.1%. We believe these measures demonstrate our success in hiring the right employees for the long-term and establishing a culture where respect for people is an everyday value.
Commitment to Environmental and Safety Excellence
Our commitment to the environment and safety excellence applies to every employee, contractor, and visitor every day, at every site. Safety and environmental responsibility are a way of life at NewMarket - enhancing operations, the way we work, and the relationships we maintain with our employees, customers, supply chain partners, and the communities in which we operate. Our objective is to establish a culture where our employees understand that good environmental and safety performance is good business and understand that environmental compliance and safety are individual responsibilities. Every employee at NewMarket is responsible for ensuring that our high standards in the area of health, safety (including process safety), environmental protection, and security are upheld at all times.
Our Global Responsible Care Policy Statement includes a commitment to conduct operations in a manner that protects our employees, communities, and the environment, to comply with all applicable laws and regulations, and to reduce our environmental impact. Additionally, in pursuit of our vision of zero incidents, we work with our employees and other key stakeholders to establish appropriate goals, objectives, and targets.
Both Afton and Ethyl have implemented Responsible Care ® Management Systems (RCMS) (RC14001 ® ) at North American facilities ("Responsible Care" is a registered service mark of the American Chemistry Council (ACC)). Our Responsible Care ® management systems are certified by an independent third-party auditing process. Additionally, Afton’s Feluy, Belgium; Suzhou, China; Tsukuba, Japan; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Bracknell, England; and Singapore facilities are all certified to the environmental standard ISO 14001. The Singapore site is also certified to ISO 45001, a global occupational health and safety standard. Our San Juan del Rio, Mexico site is formally certified to RC 14001/ISO 14001. Afton’s Sauget, Illinois plant continues to be an OSHA VPP (Voluntary Protection Program) “Star” worksite. The AMPAC site in Cedar City, Utah has officially joined the ACC and embarked on its journey to RCMS certification.
In 2024, we continued to enhance our “Actively Caring” safety program, where people look out for the safety and welfare of others with courage and compassion, enabling the achievement of an injury-free environment. The NewMarket worldwide injury/illness recordable rate (which is the number of injuries per 200,000 hours worked) was 0.77 in 2024. While we had one serious injury from a trip at the Sauget site in 2024, there were zero recordable injuries at our Port Arthur, Ashland, Richmond R&D, Houston, Suzhou, and Tsukuba facilities. The safety performance affirmed our Vision of Zero improvement plans and actions across the sites, as well as the importance placed on our safety-first culture. We have organized to provide increased environmental, health, and safety support at key sites and emphasize accountability, as well as reporting "good catches" and "near misses" to help reduce risk and drive improved performance. We are committed to achieving our aspiration of zero injuries and incidents.
As members of the ACC, we provide data on metrics used to track environmental impact, safety, energy use, community outreach and emergency preparedness, greenhouse gas intensity, and product stewardship performance of the ACC member companies. These can be viewed at https://www.americanchemistry.com/chemistry-in-america/responsible-care-driving-safety-industry-performance/metrics-transparent-reporting/individual-member-company-performance-reporting. The information on this website is not, and shall not be deemed to be, a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K or any other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Governmental and Environmental Regulations
As a chemical company, we are subject to regulation by local, state, federal, and foreign governmental authorities specific to the production, distribution, management, and stewardship of chemicals. Our specialty materials segment is subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, a set of U.S. government regulations that controls the export of defense and military technologies, and its international sales require export licenses on a case-by-case basis.
In addition, in the United States and under similar foreign and state laws, we are subject to a variety of environmental laws and regulations, as well as environmental liabilities associated with the investigation and cleanup of hazardous substances. These liabilities may include personal injury, property damage, or natural resource damages arising from the release of, or exposure to, hazardous substances. They may be imposed on us in a range of situations without regard to
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violation of law or regulations. They may also be imposed jointly and severally, where one party may be held liable for a disproportionate share of the damages, up to and including the entire loss. These liabilities may include entities with any possible connection to the hazardous substances, including, for example, entities that formerly owned or operated a property or entities that arranged for disposal of hazardous substances from a property.
We believe we comply, in all material respects, with laws, regulations, statutes, and ordinances, including, but not limited to, those protecting the environment, as well as those related to the management and stewardship of chemicals. We have policies and procedures in place that establish regular reviews of our regulatory and environmental compliance and product stewardship, and actively monitor any significant existing or potential regulatory changes or environmental issues that could materially affect us.
Our total accruals for environmental remediation, dismantling, and decontamination were approximately $11 million at both December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023. As new technology becomes available, it may be possible to reduce accrued amounts. While we believe that we are currently fully accrued for known environmental issues, it is possible that unexpected future costs could have a significant financial impact on our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.
The costs of complying with existing environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations as they pertain to our products and operations, including remediation, closure, and post-closure costs, are primarily included in cost of goods sold. We spent approximately $37 million in 2024, $41 million in 2023, and $37 million in 2022 for ongoing environmental operating and clean-up costs, excluding depreciation of previously capitalized expenditures.
In addition to the ongoing environmental compliance costs and the costs to remediate contaminated sites, worldwide capital expenditures for pollution prevention and safety projects were $13 million in 2024, $10 million in 2023, and $11 million in 2022.
The costs of complying with governmental pollution prevention and safety regulations are subject to:
• potential changes in applicable statutes and regulations (or their enforcement and interpretation);
• uncertainty as to the success of anticipated solutions to pollution problems;
• uncertainty as to whether additional expense may prove necessary; and
• potential for emerging technology to affect remediation methods and reduce associated costs.
Availability of Reports Filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Corporate Governance Documents
Our website address is www.newmarket.com. We make available, free of charge through our website, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act), as soon as reasonably practicable after such documents are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. In addition, our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Conduct, and the charters of our Audit, Compensation, and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees are available on our website and are available in print, without charge, to any shareholder upon request by contacting our Corporate Secretary at NewMarket Corporation, 330 South Fourth Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. The information on our website is not, and shall not be deemed to be, a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K or any other filings we make with the SEC. We file our annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements, and other information with the SEC. Our SEC filings are available to the public on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
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Information about our Executive Officers
The names and ages of all executive officers as of February 14, 2025 follow.
Name Age Positions
Thomas E. Gottwald 64 Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer
(Principal Executive Officer)
Timothy K. Fitzgerald 48 Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer)
Bruce R. Hazelgrove, III 64 Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer
Bryce D. Jewett, III 50 Executive Vice President and General Counsel
Ann P. Pietrantoni 46 Controller (Principal Accounting Officer)
Brian D. Paliotti 48 President, Afton Chemical Corporation
Our officers, at the discretion of the Board of Directors, hold office until the meeting of the Board of Directors following the next annual shareholders’ meeting. Mr. Gottwald and Mr. Hazelgrove have served in their capacity for at least the last five years. Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Jewett, Mrs. Pietrantoni, and Mr. Paliotti have served in their capacities for less than five years.
Mr. Fitzgerald joined the company in November 2014 as Operations Finance Director, became Treasurer and Finance Director on January 1, 2024, and was appointed Vice President and Chief Financial Officer on January 1, 2025. Mr. Jewett joined NewMarket Corporation in July 2020 as Vice President and General Counsel and was appointed Executive Vice President and General Counsel on January 1, 2025. Prior to his employment at NewMarket, he was a partner at McGuireWoods LLP. Mrs. Pietrantoni joined the company in September 2022 as Accounting Director, became Assistant Controller on January 1, 2023, and was appointed Controller on January 1, 2025. Mr. Paliotti joined NewMarket in June 2008 as Financial Officer for Afton Chemical Corporation, was appointed Senior Financial Officer of NewMarket Services Corporation in October 2011, promoted to Vice President, Finance of NewMarket Services Corporation in May 2013, and promoted to Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in January 2015. He became President of Afton Chemical Corporation on January 1, 2023.