Rhodia to Build Silica Plant in Shandong Province

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--French firm Rhodia, a world leader in specialty-chemicals manufacturing, recently announced plans to build a high-performance silica plant in Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong Province. The factory will use the method of precipitation to produce silica, which is the main material for producing environment-friendly tires. This kind of high-performance silica can reduce the rolling resistance of tires, help to save more than 5% of fuel, thus reducing carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles.

The plant is the second of its kind for Rhodia in Qingdao. The first one is capable of producing 30,000 tons per year of high-performance silica. Rhodia has so far built seven similar plants worldwide in France, Italy, Venezuela, Brazil, South Korea, China and the United States.

Several of Rhodia's major customers have shown support for the project. Rhodia CEO Jean-Pierre Clamadieu said the project will help to satisfy the industry's needs in China.

Eric Noyrez, President of Rhodia's Silcea enterprise, said the new facility will help Silcea to reinforce its worldwide leadership in the production of high-performance silica while demonstrating its commitment to responding to increasing customer demand for more energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable products.

Silcea is Rhodia's fine inorganic chemistry enterprise and a global leader in rare earth-based materials and high-performance silica.

Committed to sustainable development, Rhodia has developed a strategy for high-performance silica, which supports the development of energy-efficient tires. It supplies major tire manufacturers in four continents with a network of seven manufacturing markets, boasting an extensive range of silica products.

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