W.R. Grace & Co. has started construction on a new colloidal silica plant at its manufacturing and R&D center in Worms, Germany. The investment will support increasing demand and technical requirements from customers, expand Grace's technology platforms, and significantly increase capacity for its LUDOX colloidal silica products. The new plant is expected to be completed in Q2 2020 and will accelerate the development of new applications for LUDOX colloidal silica, support growing demand in the specialty silica segment, and improve sourcing and logistics capabilities. Grace's Worms facility has been a center for manufacturing excellence since 1972.
COLUMBIA -- W. R. Grace & Co. a global leader in specialty silica, has begun construction of a new colloidal silica plant at its European flagship manufacturing and R&D center in Worms, Germany. This investment will support growing demand and increasing technical requirements of customers. It will broaden Grace’s technology platforms, significantly increase capacity for Grace’s LUDOX® portfolio of colloidal silica products, and add flexibility to the company’s global manufacturing network. The expansion is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2020.
The new LUDOX® colloidal silica plant will:
- Accelerate the development of new LUDOX® colloidal silica applications into a wide spectrum of industrial applications including catalysts, functional coatings, and precision investment casting;
- Support increasing demand in this high growth, high value specialty silica segment; and
- Improve alternative sourcing and logistics capabilities to better serve customers in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
The LUDOX® brand is recognized around the world as a market-leading colloidal silica technology. Cited in over 25,000 patents, LUDOX® colloidal silica is one of the most versatile and functional silica-based technologies available.
“We are seeing very strong demand for LUDOX® colloidal silica, and most important, we are helping many customers develop entirely new products and markets,” said Sandra Wisniewski, President, Grace Materials Technologies. “Grace is strategically investing to increase capacity for a variety of products. This new manufacturing facility will allow us to better serve both existing and new customers with differentiated silica technologies that deliver value to accelerate commercialization of their new products.”
Decades of institutional expertise in colloidal technology and unparalleled technical support have earned LUDOX® colloidal silica a reputation for tightly-controlled specifications and reliable, consistent quality making it the preferred brand for high-performance applications. Grace R&D, process technology, and manufacturing teams often tailor the LUDOX® colloidal silica technology to meet specific customer performance requirements.
Grace’s Worms, Germany R&D and manufacturing facility opened in 1972 and has since become a center of manufacturing excellence for silica as well as catalyst and adsorbent technologies.