Skip to content

About Us

With an eye on long term sustainable growth and service excellence to our customers

NCS AT A GLANCE

Material Solutions Embedded with Technology

NCS is a manufacturer of a diverse product offering of unsaturated polyester resins, solvent-borne resins, dispersions and additives.

Over 400 Employees

Creating strong customer and supplier relations throughout the industry

Research Driven

Market leaders in technical knowledge and skill.

Worldwide Footprint

Established trading footprint in Africa, Indian-Ocean Islands & Australasia.

EarthKind

A unique platform that encapsulates our numerous environmentally-friendly products.

COATING SOLUTIONS EMBEDDED WITH TECHNOLOGY

NCS South Africa is one of the largest manufacturers of Composites, Coatings and Dispersions in Africa.

A leader in the development and supply of innovative technology across the coating industry

0
PLANTS
0
INDUSTRIES
0
HI-TECH LABORATORIES
0 +
CUSTOMERS

NCS was established as the Natal Chemical Syndicate in the 1900’s to manufacture methylated and rectified spirits of the tanning industry. In the 1960’s NCS started producing unsaturated polyester products under licence from Scott Bader (UK) and later, under licence from Reichholdt (US). Following a series of ownership changes, the company was acquired by Ferro South Africa in 2012.

Coating Resins history started with the Coates family in the UK, where a resin production facility manufactured products for the printing ink industry. The business, called CRAY VALLEY, opened a resin facility in Durban in 1969. The Coates/Cray Valley group was later acquired by TOTAL, then ARKEMA and finally Ferro South Africa in 2014.

Dispersions history goes back to Revertex Chemicals being established in Durban in 1957. A joint venture with Alco (later Akzo Nobel) was finalised in 1982. Revertex Chemicals changed its name to SYNTHOMER. Dispersions was acquired from Synthomer in 2016.

In 2022, NCS South Africa (Pty) Ltd was formed as a merger of 3 companies, each with a long history, into a single company. This empowers us to expand our business locally and internationally, streamline our services and make more meaningful investments into research, development and technologies. As a result NCS South Africa will be at the forefront of growing our employees, customers, suppliers and environment through sustainable and innovative offerings.

VISION

To provide exceptional material solutions that build a better world.

MISSION

We foster an environment of curiosity, agility and determination,  that embraces the urgency of improving our processes and offerings to provide sustainable value to our partners as we grow our footprint across the world.

VALUES

SAFETY: Protecting people, community, and environment – it’s our top priority.
CUSTOMER FOCUSED: Delivering excellence with agility, always with the customers in mind.
INNOVATION: Pioneering sustainability solutions though constant exploration and creativity.
INTEGRITY: Standing by our word – because honesty and trust are the foundation of our relationships.

NCS HAS A RICH HISTORY BEGINNING IN THE 1900's

Scroll through some of our highlights

NCS RESINS

Early 1900's
Established as Natal Chemical Syndicate (NCS) to manufacture methylated and rectified spirits for tanning industry.
1960
Unsaturated Polyester Resins (UPR) products under licence from Scott Bader (UK).
1961
Halted rectified spirits and became NCS Plastics.
1988
Purchased by Sentrachem who were already manufacturing Polyester Resins under license from Reichhold (US) subsequently forming NCS Resins.
1997
Dow Chemical Company acquires Sentrachem.
2001
Private Equity (Brait SA) leveraged MBO and merged with Vereguard (Pty) Ltd, (importer of Derakane brand of resins).
2005
Brait SA sell to Medu Capital (Braits BEE initiative) while internationally Ashland buys Derakane from Dow.
2010
Medu Capital sell to Investec Bank Limited who take 76% control.
2012
100% acquisition by Ferro Industrial Products.
2014
Ferro Industrial Products name changed to Ferro South Africa.
2016
SynChem is formed under IEP as a diversified South African chemical holding company consisting of Idwala, CJP Chemicals, Ferro South Africa, Botash, Cerebos, NCP Chlorchem and Walvis Bay Salt Holdings. IEP acquires Investec portfolio inclusive of the Ferro Group.
2018
1 August 2018: NCS Resins is integrated into the Bud Group. SynChem’s name is changed to Bud Chemicals and Minerals, a platform of The Bud Group. Driven by innovation and agility, The Bud Group is a diversified business of scale and relevance operating across chosen platforms including, Chemicals and Minerals, Industrial Services, Building Materials, Financial Services and Industrial Supplies. The Bud Group is present in 9 provinces in South Africa and operates in 12 countries in Africa. www.budgroup.co.za
2022
NCS Resins (Pty) Ltd changes its name to NCS South Africa (Pty) Ltd
2023
Chemfin leveraged MBO, together with a select grouping of strategic South African shareholders of reference, acquires 100% of NCS South Africa (Pty) Ltd. (and CJP Chemicals and Ferro SA), which were all previously owned by the Bud Group.

COATING RESINS

1877
The Coates Family established a small business in South London called Coates Brothers which supplied the then highly profitable printing industry. A resin production facility was established on the banks of the river CRAY in Kent in order to supply the printing ink business. This was later followed by a resin facility at Machen in South Wales and Stallingborough in northern England and the name CRAY VALLEY was given to the resin division.
1969
The South African operation of Cray Valley was opened as a division of Coates Brothers South Africa in order to supply their printing ink business and the South African coatings market.
2000
TOTAL sold Coates Brothers to Sun Chemicals. Cray Valley South Africa (Pty) Ltd was established.
2011
Total divested its Coatings resin business which was purchased by Arkema, another French multinational group.
2014
Ferro South Africa acquired Arkema Resins in South Africa. The name of the company was changed to Ferro Coating Resins.
2016
Ferro South Africa was acquired by Synchem Pty Ltd.
2018
1 July 2018: Ferro Coating Resins and Ferro Dispersions are integrated in to The Bud Group. Driven by innovation and agility, The Bud Group is a diversified business of scale and relevance operating across chosen platforms including, Chemicals and Minerals, Industrial Services, Building Materials, Financial Services and Industrial Supplies. The Bud Group is present in 9 provinces in South Africa and operates in 12 countries in Africa. www.budgroup.co.za
2022
Ferro Coating Resins merged into NCS South Africa (Pty) Ltd

DISPERSIONS

1957
Revertex Chemicals was established in Durban and was the first company to introduce a range of water-based polymers to the coatings industry.
1982
Arkem JV formed in South Africa with ALCO Chemical Corporation USA and a Tolling agreement finalized with Revertex Chemicals. Since this partnership, ownership of ALCO changed several times over the years – ALCO was acquired by National Starch, which was acquired by ICI, who in turn were acquired by AKZONOBEL.
2007
Revertex Chemicals changed its name to Synthomer South Africa in line with a group global branding alignment.
2016
Ferro South Africa acquired Synthomer and Arkem in South Africa. The name of the company was changed to Ferro Dispersions. The Arkem name was not changed. Ferro South Africa was acquired by Synchem (Pty) Ltd.
2018
1 July 2018: Ferro Coating Resins and Ferro Dispersions are integrated in to The Bud Group. Driven by innovation and agility, The Bud Group is a diversified business of scale and relevance operating across chosen platforms including, Chemicals and Minerals, Industrial Services, Building Materials, Financial Services and Industrial Supplies. The Bud Group is present in 9 provinces in South Africa and operates in 12 countries in Africa. www.budgroup.co.za
2022
Ferro Dispersions merged into NCS South Africa (Pty) Ltd

ACCREDITATIONS & AFFILIATIONS

NCS South Africa is a proud member
of the Durban Chemical Cluster