Cabot Corporation has announced the groundbreaking of a world-class new manufacturing facility, fumed silica plant located adjacent to Dow’s Carrollton site in western Kentucky according to a statement.  Scheduled to be operational by 2020, the new facility will not only extend Cabot’s long-term relationship with Dow while furthering Cabot’s position as a leading producer of fumed silica.

Once complete, the plant will incorporate Cabot’s latest technology advances into the plant design and operations. Additionally, the collocation enables a fence-line relationship with Dow, creating a closed-loop system that reduces transportation risks, increases manufacturing efficiencies and reduces waste.

“The facility will provide a long-term supply of high quality fumed silica to Dow for use in applications for fast growing end-markets, including packaging and construction, and will support sustainable growth for Dow, Cabot and for northern Kentucky,” said, Howard Ungerleider, CFO, DowDuPont.

Sean Keohane, President and CEO of Cabot Corporation, said, “This is a great day for Cabot as we expand our presence in North America by building adjacent to our long time partner Dow in Carrollton. As leaders in our respective industries with a shared commitment to manufacturing and safety, health and environmental excellence, collocation in Carrollton was a natural fit.”

Dow and Cabot have developed a cooperative relationship as both supplier and customer to each other over the last 30 years, with current neighboring operations in Midland, Michigan, U.S.A. and Barry, Wales, United Kingdom. Silicone products made at the Dow site are used by Cabot as a building block for producing fumed silica, an ultra-fine, high-purity particle used as a performance additive in a broad range of applications. Dow, in turn, uses Cabot’s fumed silica in its silicone products as well as by-product from Cabot’s process in its operations.