Cabot to expand fumed silica in Barry, Wales

ERJ staff report (DS)

Boston, Massachussetts -- Cabot Corp. is to expand production capacity by 25 percent at its fumed silica facility in Barry, Wales, company officials said yesterday. The project s an extension of Cabot's long-term partnership with Dow Corning, and will help meet rising global demand for silicones, which is expected to continue to grow at 5 to 10 percent per year over the coming decade.

The expansion is expected to be completed in 2012 and is part of a three-year plan to increase Cabot's global fumed metal oxide capacity by 35 to 40 percent.

Cabot and Dow Corning have worked together in Barry since 1991, when Cabot built its fumed silica facility adjacent to Dow Corning's silicone monomer plant. Dow Corning provides Cabot with silanes, which are converted to fumed silica for Dow Corning's compounded silicones applications.

Cabot currently has six fumed silica manufacturing facilities globally, including two in the United States (Tuscola, Ill., and Midland, Mich.), two in Europe (Barry, Wales and Rheinfelden, Germany), and two in Asia (Jiangxi Province, China and Mettur, India).

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Press release from Cabot