Solvay launches production at new Polish silica plant

On July 1, Solvay held a ceremony to mark the beginning of production of highly dispersible silica at its new plant in Wloclawek, Poland. The plant will serve Central and Eastern Europe, with a focus on energy-saving tires. With 85,000 tons of annual capacity dedicated to Solvay’s latest HDS technologies it will create more than 100 jobs in the Pomeranian region. The site will produce Solvay’s most advanced grades of HDS, a reinforcing agent in the tire rubber that reduces rolling resistance and improves fuel economy. Solvay’s HDS brands include Zeosil® PREMIUM and Efficium®, another Solvay Silica invention, which helps tire makers to raise productivity levels for both car and truck tire compounds. With Wloclawek, Solvay’s Silica has a strong global footprint with nine sites across Europe, South America, North America, and Asia. In South Korea, Solvay is building a plant that will also produce Efficium® and, once on stream, raise Solvay’s annual silica capacity by close to 50 percent between 2014 and 2016.