NAGASE Specialty Materials NA LLC (NSM), a hybrid distributor and manufacturer of specialty chemical products, announced its planned expansion into 10 states in the western United States.

The company plans to expand to Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Washington and Wyoming.

“I’m confident that our technically focused solutions selling approach will assist our new customers in their production and formulation work,” said Al Bernhardt, vice president, Functional Materials, NSM. “As part of NAGASE, NSM has global distribution, manufacturing, logistics, R&D, business development and technical resources that our suppliers and customers presently utilize. The U.S. West Coast is the shortest route logistically to Asia, and we import a tremendous amount of Asian-supplied material; this expansion West is a sound play for us.”

According to NSM’s Director of Supplier Management Robert Milano, the company will immediately represent nearly a dozen of its current suppliers in this new territory, with one major supplier announcement forthcoming soon.