Rhodia to boost HDS capacity at French, US facilities

Newly announced capacity increases at two Rhodia facilities, together with the company’s recently inaugurated plant in Qingdao, China, will increase Rhodia’s global highly dispersible silica capacity by more than 40 per cent. The French specialty chemicals company is investing in its Chicago Heights plant in the US and its Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or facility in France to give the plants a combined 32,000 tons per annum additional HDS production capacity. Start ups are respectively planned in the fourth quarter 2011 and the first quarter 2012.

“These expansions will ensure that globally we will be there for our customers to meet future demand for fuel efficient tyres around the world,” commented Tom Benner, president of Rhodia Silica. Marketed under the ‘Zeosil’ brand name, Rhodia’s highly dispersible silica is primarily used in tyre production; the company says its product can bring about a five to seven per cent fuel consumption reduction in light vehicles through reducing tyre rolling resistance.

The Qingdao plant, inaugurated in October 2010, has a capacity of 72,000 tons a year and alone boosted Rhodia’s HDS capacity by more than 30 per cent.  “We provide our customers with a unique technology and the corresponding volumes required to meet the increasing regulatory demands for tyre labelling around the world”, commented Benner at the plants inauguration. “The site will enable us to profit fully from Asia’s significant development potential and reinforce our leadership position in this market.”