Degussa expands its Carbon Black Capacity in Qingdao

Further growth plans under evaluation

11-Sep-2003

Degussa AG, Dusseldorf, one of the world leading carbon black manufacturers for the rubber and tire industry, is going to expand its production capacity at Qingdao Degussa Chemical Company, LTD (QDCC) in Qingdao, China. QDCC, located in the Shandong province, one of the most dynamic business regions in China, is a joint venture owned by Degussa and its partners Zhenya Carbon Black Company and DEG (Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH). QDCC currently operates a Carbon Black plant with with an annual capacity of 50,000 metric tons. "We will be increasing our production capacity by over 20,000 metric tons by the end of 2004," explains Robert Wissner, head of Degussa's Advanced Fillers & pigments Business Unit. This expansion will consolidate Degussa's market position as one of the leading suppliers of carbon black in China. "We're also exploring additional growth options at other Chinese locations." A radical change is taking place in the Chinese tire and rubber black markets these days. "Demand is booming for the kind of high quality rubber blacks QDCC has been producing since the start-up of the company," says Wissner. China has already become the worldwide largest market for truck tires and the third-largest for all kind of tires. The driving forces for this of the rapidly growing demand are the growing involvement of global automobile manufacturers and big international tire producers in China, as well as the rapid expansion of the country's road and highway network. China's expressway network is already the second-largest in the world (after that of the U.S.) and is currently being expanded by well over 270,000 kilometers, resp. 167,000 miles. Degussa, producing specialty chemicals in China since 1988, now has over 15 companies in the country, with production facilities in Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanning, Qingdao, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Its broad spectrum of products - ranging from carbon blacks, construction chemicals, amino acids, polyurethane foam additives, high-performance water treatment chemicals, and initiators used in the production of plastics-processing/order_t/'>plastics processing - is designed to meet the expectations of the customers not only in China but in the whole of Asia. Degussa (China) Co., Ltd., Beijing being the holding company of the Degussa Group in China is supporting Degussa's Business Units by efficient and professional services. Degussa currently employs more than 1,000 people in China. In 2002, the Group generated in China sales of about EUR240 million. Degussa's Advanced Fillers & Pigments Business Unit is one of the largest producers of carbon black in the world. Recently, it opened a state-of-the-art production facility in Paulinia, Brazil. As a specialist in surface chemistry and surface physics, the Business Unit concentrates on the production and application of carbon black, performance silicas, matting agents, sulfur functional organo-silanes and blue pigments. The Business Unit serves a broad clientele, including manufacturers of tires and technical rubber goods as well as customers from the printing ink, coatings and plastics industries.

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