Solvay today announced it will invest €75 million to build a new 85,000 ton per year Highly Dispersible Silica (HDS) plant in Włocławek, Poland. Combined with a further capacity expansion at its site in Qingdao (China), these two investments will increase Solvay's global highly dispersible silica production capacity by an additional 30%.

Among other HDS products, the new plant will produce Zeosil Premium, highly dispersible silica, used by tire manufacturers in the production of energy-saving tires.

Solvay will also add production capacity to its Qingdao plant (China) which started-up in 2010. This expansion is already underway and scheduled for completion by the end of 2013. It will elevate the capacity of the site to 112,000 tons per year.

These investments follow volume expansions in France (2012), the US (2011), and a new plant in Qingdao, China (2010). Upon the completion of these projects, Solvay's worldwide highly dispersible silica annual production capacity will stand close to 500,000 tons, doubling from pre-2010 levels.