CABOT Corp. and its partner Risun Chemicals Co. Ltd broke ground on its new carbon black manufacturing facility in Xingtai, China. The facility, worth USD140 million, will meet market demand in China. It will supply high performance materials to make products more efficient. The project, announced in the first quarter of 2011, is scheduled to be completed in mid-2013.
In this joint venture, Cabot owns a 60-% equity interest. The partnership entails Cabot to bring technology advancements and strengthen leadership position in rapidly growing China whereas Risun will provide the feedstock and energy integration capabilities with its current operations.
THE new facility, located about 400 km south of Beijing in Heibei province, will help support tyre and automotive growth in China. Carbon black is a reinforcing agent essential in the manufacturing of tyres. The material is also used in many automotive parts, including adhesives and sealants, battery materials, coatings and more.
According to IHS Automotive, China’s motor vehicle fleet is expected to grow to approximately 315 million units over the next decade, up from 102 million units in 2012.
Cabot and Risun’s new Xingtai facility will have a phase I manufacturing capacity of 130,000 metric tonnes of carbon black per year, and will enable Cabot to increase its carbon black manufacturing capacity in China by 25%. The new site will employ the most advanced technologies for production of high performance carbon black materials, environmental protection and comprehensive utilisation of energy recovery.
In other news, Cabot and joint venture partner China National Bluestar Group announced the completion of its new fumed silica expansion project at the Spark Industrial Park in Jiangxi Province, China.
The project began in 2010 and has now enabled the facility to produce up to 15,000 metric tonnes of product annually; with the near term potential to further expand to 20,000 metric tonnes as demand in Asia grows.
The facility incorporates advanced manufacturing technologies to produce a broad range of highly pure, electronics-grade fumed silica for key growth segments including silicone parts for automotive and industrial applications, composite parts such as windmill blades, automotive panels and boat hulls, and electronics applications such as CMP slurries, solar panel adhesives and electrophoretic toners.(PRA)
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