Boston-based Cabot Corp. has completed two expansion projects which will increase its black masterbatch and compounds footprint globally.
Cabot said in a May 21 announcement that a combination of plant expansions, operational improvements and debottlenecking will expand its capacity by more than 300,000 metric tons.
More than half of that, 160,000 tonnes, will come through an expansion at its Cilegon, Indonesia, plant. The Southeast Asia region is growing at 4-5 percent per year, Cabot noted. Materials from the expansion will be available by 2020 or 2021.
In addition to the Indonesia expansion, Cabot will invest about $50 million in debottlenecking across all 18 of its carbon black facilities.
Cabot has previously expanded in North America through its acquisition of Tech Blend of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, in 2017. In April announced an expansion in Pepinster, Belgium, to boost its capabilities for plastic formulations, including conductive and engineering thermoplastics formulations.