China's first fumed silica manufacturing facility has been completed and production has started, announced Cabot Corp. on Wednesday. The plant has an annual capacity of 4,800 metric tons.
The facility, located in Jiangxi Province, China, is a project of Cabot Bluestar Chemical (Jiangxi) Company Ltd., a joint venture between a Cabot subsidiary, Cabot (China) Limited, and Bluestar New Chemical Materials Co., Ltd., a member of the ChemChina Group.
Cabot Bluestar Chemical (Jiangxi) Company Ltd. invested approximately $27 million to construct the plant.
The new facility is designed to primarily serve the growing fumed silica market in China.
Cabot Chairman and CEO Kennett F. Burnes said, "The adoption of fumed silica in industrial applications in China is growing rapidly. We are confident that with the successful commissioning of our new facility, we are well-positioned to meet the needs of our customers in China by providing high quality product in a timely manner."
"Our domestic customers are anxious to use the products from our Jiangxi facility because this will significantly shorten their transportation cycle and provide a more reliable source of supply," said Mr. Xinsheng Zhang, president of Cabot (China) Limited. "We expect immediate full utilization of the production capacity of this plant."
Cabot Corp. is a global specialty chemicals and materials company headquartered in Boston, Mass.
