Evonik on October 27, 2015 opened its expanded facility in Ako, Japan, where the company will produce its Sipernat and Carplex lines of specialty silicas. The investment represents a roughly 50 percent increase in Evonik’s Japanese production capacity for specialty silicas, which the specialty chemicals company manufactures through DSL Japan Co Ltd. Evonik maintains a 51 percent share in DSL, a joint venture with the Shionogi & Co Ltd in Japan.
“The expansion will allow us to continue providing exceptionally high-quality silica that will support the growth of our customers in sophisticated sectors such as the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals industries,” explained Andreas Fischer, head - Silica Business Line within the Resource Efficiency Segment, Evonik. Applications for Sipernat and Carplex include their use in beer filtration, as drug carriers in pharmaceuticals, and as flow aids in powdered foods and thickener for toothpastes. “We also anticipate new ideas for other industrial applications, such as paints and coatings, or paper coatings,” added Fischer.
Evonik is expanding its global silica production capacities. Following expansion projects in Europe and Asia, Evonik is now constructing a facility in Americana, Brazil, which will be the first plant in South America for highly dispersible (HD) silica, a product used primarily in tires with low rolling resistance. In the spring of 2015, the company began the initial planning stages of a new world-scale production plant for precipitated silica in the US. The company hopes to finish construction by the end of 2017. The overall project - this would be the largest investment that Evonik has made in North America in the past five years - is still subject to board approval.
