PPG increases precipitated silica production capacity in the USA

PPG Industries announced that it is increasing the precipitated silica production capacity at its Lake Charles, LA, USA, manufacturing plant by more than 10,000 t/y. PPG said it would achieve the capacity increase through debottlenecking projects that are already underway and expected to come online in the second half of 2016.

The debottlenecking projects at the Lake Charles site build on a 22,000 t/y capacity increase that came online in mid-2014 and phased debottlenecking projects that came online in 2012.

In February 2015, PPG announced expanded precipitated silica production at its Delfzijl plant in the Netherlands, designed in part to meet growing demand among global tyre manufacturers for Agilon silica. According to the company, the Delfzijl expansion remains on schedule to come online in mid-2016. In addition to these expansions, PPG said it is also evaluating additional significant silica expansion projects in Europe and North America.