Cabot plans major expansion of carbon black manufacturing

The company is expanding capacity at plants in China, Indonesia, Brazil, and Argentina as well as adding capacity at three facilities in Europe. The expansions will increase Cabot’s annual global carbon black output by about 15 %, or more than 300,000 t. Investments in South America, specifically in Brazil and Argentina, will increase capacity in that region by about 20 %. In Indonesia, the company is increasing capacity by about 50 %, through a newly announced expansion project in Cilegon, and a previously announced expansion in Merak.

De-bottlenecking actions in Europe will expand the company’s capacity by 10 %. Additionally, Cabot has entered into a joint venture with Risun Chemicals Company, Ltd. to construct a carbon black facility in Xingtai, China. Once commissioned in early 2013, the new facility will expand Cabot’s capacity in China by about 25 %, with 130,000 t of capacity and the potential for expansion to 300,000 t.

Furthermore, Cabot has begun construction of a new black masterbatch plant at its Tianjin facility in China. Investment here is said to be about USD 20 million. The plant will have an annual capacity of about 45,000 t with expansion capacity to 80,000 t in the future. According to the company, the world-scale plant will be the first fully integrated black masterbatch production and is anticipated to be commissioned in mid-2011.