Cabot buys NSCC Carbon (Jiangsu) carbon black plant in China

Cabot Corporation announced today that it has acquired NSCC Carbon (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. from Nippon Steel Carbon Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Nippon Steel Chemical & Material Co., Ltd. The carbon black manufacturing facility in Pizhou, Jiangsu Province, China, was originally commissioned in 2015. Cabot has been actively exploring and implementing opportunities to increase capacity in its global carbon black network through plant expansions, operational improvements and debottlenecking projects. The 50,000 metric ton plant will support Cabot’s specialty carbons product line within the Performance Chemicals segment. The plant is scheduled to be temporarily mothballed to conduct maintenance and technology upgrades. The upgrades to manufacturing and environmental equipment will enable the site to be more flexible to manufacture different carbon black products and meet ever-stricter environmental standards. The purchase price, which is payable upon satisfaction of certain conditions, and the equipment and technology upgrades are expected to result in spending of approximately $50 million over the next two years.