PITTSBURGH, US: PPG Industries is increasing its precipitated silica production capacity at the Lake Charles, La, manufacturing location by more than 22,000 tonne per year in response to growing demand. The new expansion project is expected to be online by early 2014, with employment at the site increasing slightly as a result, the company informed.
“Last September, we announced an increase in our global precipitated silica production capacity of more than 18,000 tonne per year through phased expansion projects at our Lake Charles, La and Delfzijl, The Netherlands, manufacturing locations. Our plan is on-schedule and these projects are already online or scheduled to be online by the end of 2012,” said Kevin Braun, Silica Products, General Manager, PPG.
“We expect continued market growth in the coming years and this investment will enable us to keep pace with the growing needs of key strategic customers and segments in the Americas,” added Braun.
Braun also informed that the silica products business and its production assets and employees are part of PPG’s Optical and Specialty Materials reporting segment and they are not included in the announced separation of PPG’s commodity chemicals business and its subsequent merger with Georgia Gulf Corp.
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