Both units are located in integrated petrochemical hubs and receive ethylene oxide via dedicated pipelines, providing a secure supply of this key raw material for a wide range of specialty surfactants by Solvay's Novecare business; of which one of its main markets is for shampoo formulations.
At its recently acquired Moerdijk site, situated between the key regional transport and logistics hubs of Rotterdam, and Antwerp, Belgium, Solvay says that it is ramping up capacity already for the third quarter.
"In the Netherlands, our teams were able to start production well ahead of schedule to meet the evolving regional supply needs of our customers," says Emmanuel Butstraen, President of Solvay's Novecare Global Business Unit.
"Both facilities in Moerdijk and in Singapore are platforms for providing highly competitive and innovative intermediates to further penetrate key markets in Europe and Asia Pacific for our agrochemicals, coatings, home and personal care, industrial and oil and gas markets."
Asia presence
The Belgium-based firm says that the Novecare plant in Singapore will hold its opening ceremony next month and is also ramping up full-scale production after having successfully completed its trial batch production in May.
Solvay's Novecare is already Asia's largest specialty surfactant manufacturer with 10 production sites, two Research & Innovation centres in Singapore and Shanghai, China, and a recently opened R&I laboratory in Tokyo, Japan.
Both facilities produce alkoxylates which form the chemical foundation for a broad offering of Novecare's specialty surfactants, which are used for example in shampoos, detergents, paints, lubricants and plant protection.