BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT) announces the completion of a significant investment to establish a new plastics applications development laboratory in Shanghai. The investment in plastics processing, testing capabilities and skilled technicians allows Cabot to better serve and collaborate with its customers in the China and Asia Pacific plastics industry. The Shanghai laboratory leverages Cabot’s global capabilities, networking with Cabot’s existing applications laboratories in Europe and the U.S., to ensure the latest technologies and products for both specialty carbon black and specialty black masterbatch and compounds are implemented in the region.
According to Applied Marketing Information Ltd., polymer demand in Asia is poised to grow from 98 million metric tons in 2011 to 126 million metric tons in 2016. This is more than double the growth rate projected for Europe and North America. As the Asia market continues to expand, this applications lab is an important milestone for Cabot to support the growth of the Asia plastics industry ensuring that its customers have the latest and best products and services to enhance their product performance for color, conductivity, and UV protection.
The new Shanghai laboratory contains the latest technologies and testing equipment to provide global, best-in-class technical service. The lab is capable of application testing and development that closely represents Cabot’s customer applications. With this lab, Cabot can better meet the unique requirements of its China and Asia based customers across a range of critical applications including agricultural film and irrigation pipe, gas and water pressure pipe, wire and cable jacketing, extrusion, molding and compounding as well as conductive products for electrostatic discharge protection.
"Cabot’s deep understanding of carbon black properties and specialty masterbatch and compound formulations allows the company to deliver innovations across the plastics value chain," said Fei Deng, Cabot vice president, Performance Materials, Asia Pacific. "With the expanded laboratory, we will be able to respond more quickly to our Asia Pacific and global customers, expediting product support and facilitating new product development. This investment enhances our ability to provide differentiated products and services that enable the regional plastics industry to offer value-added solutions to their customers."
Cabot is one of the largest specialty black masterbatch and compound producers in the world. Its compounds are performance materials comprised of a mixture of polymer, additives and carbon black that is used in a wide range of thermoplastic applications such as infrastructure and automotive. Typical end-use products include plastic moldings, pipes, cable jacketing and film.
ABOUT CABOT CORPORATION
Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT) is a
global specialty chemicals and performance materials company,
headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company is a leading
provider of rubber
and specialty
carbons, activated
carbon, inkjet
colorants, cesium
formate drilling fluids, fumed
silica, aerogel,
and elastomer
composites. For more information on Cabot, please visit the
company’s website at: http://www.cabotcorp.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in the press release regarding Cabot’s business that are not historical facts are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward looking statements, see “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K.