Shanghai, China, April 17, 2012 – Solvay Specialty Polymers and Rhodia Engineering Plastics are strongly committed to expand in Asia and are specifically focusing significant investments in China as a platform for growth in the region.
R&D Facilities to Merge
The separate Solvay Specialty Polymers and Rhodia Engineering Plastics research and development facilities in Shanghai will be combined into one world-class R&D Center at Rhodia’s campus in the Xinzhuang industrial zone.
A new four million euro building will be added to the existing Rhodia research center with two full floors dedicated to polymer formulation and processing and includes an injection molding facility for customer trials. This facility will boost our capabilities in the injection molding process and thereby improve our products and service offer to customers. The merged R&D campus will also include several state-of-the-art fully equipped laboratories focusing on chemical formulation, mechanical measurements, ageing and flame retardancy and, importantly, a plastic parts simulation and design capabilities which radically and cost-effectively helps to shorten time-to-market product development.
“Bringing together and upgrading our research and development facilities will be of great benefit to our China customers,” says Frank Laganier, Asia-Pacific Zone Director, Rhodia Engineering Plastics. “The value-added synergies we offer include a much broader product range and this, coupled with our combined advanced technical know-how and process capabilities, will provide a solid foundation for customer support and growth.”
New Compounding Facility – Changshu
A new 21 million euro compounding plant will come on-stream at our Changshu site in summer 2012, months ahead of schedule. It will serve the fast growing markets in China for electrical & electronics, wire & cable, automotive, consumer and industrial applications. The facility will be fully adaptable for future expansion for both overall capacity and for other high performance engineering and fluorinated polymers.
New Production Plant – Changshu
Solvay is building a new 120 million euro production plant for fluorinated polymers at the company’s industrial site in Changshu (Jiangsu province) and is scheduled to be operational early 2014. It will significantly boost Solvay's global production capacity and meet the growing demand for these high value-added specialty polymers in Asia for end-use markets such as automotive, photovoltaic (PV), Li-Ion batteries, membranes for water purification and oil & gas applications.
“Our strategically located manufacturing facilities of high-class products for end use markets such as photovoltaic and lithium batteries ensure China’s OEMs meet the rapidly growing domestic and regional needs and contribute to wider global demands,” comments Maurizio Gastaldi, Head of Asia Growth & Development, Solvay Specialty Polymers.
Solvay Specialty Polymers and Rhodia Engineering Plastics are exhibiting together at Chinaplas (April 18-21) for the first time. Come and visit us in Hall N1, Booth D41.
###
SOLVAY is an international chemical Group committed to sustainable development with a clear focus on innovation and operational excellence. Its recent acquisition of specialty chemicals company Rhodia created a much larger player, which is realizing over 90% of its sales in markets where it is among the top 3 global leaders. Solvay offers a broad range of products that contribute to improving the quality of life and the performance of its customers in markets such as consumer goods, construction, automotive, energy, water and environment, and electronics. The Group is headquartered in Brussels, employs about 29,000 people in 55 countries and generated EUR 12.7 billion in net sales in 2011 (pro forma). Solvay SA (SOLB.BE) is listed on NYSE Euronext in Brussels and Paris (Bloomberg: SOLB.BB – Reuters: SOLBt.BR).
CONTACTS
Scott PR (Shanghai, China)
Jacky Cheng
+86 21 6155 6521
jacky.cheng@scottpr.cn
Industrial Media Relations (Namur, Belgium)
Alan Flower
+32 474 117091
alan.flower@indmr.com
Rhodia Engineering Plastics (Lyon, France)
Jérôme Pisani
+33 4 26 19 70 87
jerome.pisani@eu.rhodia.com
Solvay Specialty Polymers (Bollate, Italy)
Alberta Stella
+39 02 3835 6671
alberta.stella@solvay.com
