Evonik closing two US silica units amid restructure

Piscataway, New Jersey – Evonik Industries AG is planning to shut down two silica manufacturing facilities in the US over the next two years to improve competitiveness and optimise costs.

The German group expects to cease operations at its fumed silica facility in Waterford, New York by mid-2025, while its site in Havre de Grace, Maryland will end precipitated silica production in mid-2026.

The company expects to relocate production from the two facilities to other “silica hubs” in collaboration with customers, Evonik said 17 Jan.

The moves are in response to “structural changes in markets and industries,” Emmanuel Auer, global head of Evonik's new Smart effects unit, which includes the silicas business.

“We need to improve competitiveness, optimise costs, reduce complexity, and thus achieve a more robust business structure,” Auer added.

Evonik is introducing new “hub concepts” intending to use economies-of-scale and backward-integration with partners to optimise its business structure. (Related report)

The Essen, Germany-headquartered company stressed that it remained “fully committed to its silica business in the Americas [and to] maintaining adequate and timely domestic availability..."

The 24-employee Waterford site, located about 10 miles north of Albany, New York, manufactures fumed silica-based thickening/reinforcement agents and anti-caking additives for powders.

In a statement to ERJ, Evonik said its Aerosil-branded silica was mainly used as thickening agent in silicone products, sealants and adhesives, as well as cosmetic products.

As an anti-caking and free flow agent, the product is particularly used in the food and feed and in the pharma industry as a 'glidant'.

The Havre de Grace production site, located 40 miles northeast of Baltimore, Maryland, employs 42 production personnel.

The plant manufactures precipitated silica and calcium silicate for toothpaste, food and animal feed.

The site also has an R&D & innovation centre as well as laboratories and other support functions, which will remain after the production closure.

Decisions about the exact plant-closure dates have yet to be finalised, according to Evonik.