Specialty chemicals maker Cabot Corp. plans to build a plant to make carbon black masterbatch concentrates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Boston-based Cabot announced the plan May 28. The plant will have initial annual capacity of about 55 million pounds, with potential to triple that amount. Construction is set to begin late this year, with production launching in late 2009.
No cost estimate was available for the project. Spokeswoman Karen Morrissey said Cabot's masterbatch plants typically employ between 30 and 50.
Company officials said black masterbatches are needed for use with polyethylene and polypropylene in a variety of applications within the Middle East. Those uses include water supply, telecommunications and electricity.
Cabot already produces black, white and additive masterbatches at a plant in Hong Kong and four plants in Europe. The company has no masterbatch production sites in North America, but sells carbon black and other additives to materials firms in that region.
Cabot posted sales of $2.6 billion in its fiscal 2007, which ended Sept. 30. In the first half of 2008, the firm's sales jumped 15 percent to $1.5 billion when compared with the year-ago period.