Solvay announced it will invest €75 million to build a new 85,000 ton per year highly dispersible silica (HDS) plant in Wloclawek, Poland. The completion is expected in the third quarter of 2014. Among other HDS products, the new plant will produce Zeosil^® Premium, the latest generation of highly dispersible silica, used by tire manufacturers in the production of energy-saving tires. Zeosil^® Premium decreases fuel consumption by up to 7 %, while enhancing other tire performance properties.

Solvay also adds production capacity to its Qingdao, China, plant which started-up in 2010. The expansion is scheduled for completion by the end of 2013 and will elevate the capacity of the site to 112,000 tons per year.

These two investments will increase Solvay’s global HDS production capacity by an additional 30 %.

• Solvay, Brussels, Belgium