Solvay has broken ground at Gunsan, South Korea, for a Highly Dispersible Silica (HDS) plant that it says will develop innovative HDS grades and address growing demand in Asia for energy saving tires.

The plant with an annual capacity of more than 80,000 t/y is expected to be operational within the next two years.

The advanced grades produced at the Korean site by Solvay's global business unit Silica will allow for higher productivity and greater flexibility in producing energy saving passenger car and truck tire compounds, the Belgian chemical producer said.

With the new production platform dedicated to silica innovations for Asia and the silica research facility that belongs to Solvay's new R&I Center at the Ehwa University Campus in Seoul, An Nuyttens, president of the Silica business unit, said the company is "well placed to speed up innovations in close cooperation with our regional customers."

The facility in the Saemangeum zone, close to Gunsan city in Jeollabuk-do province, will over time replace an important part of the current capacity at Solvay's silica site in Incheon, which is located in an area designated for future residential development.