Evonik has opened its expanded facilities in Ako, Japan, where the company will produce its Sipernat and Carplex lines of specialty silicas. The investment represents a roughly 50%increase in Evonik's Japanese production capacity for specialty silicas, which the specialty chemicals company manufactures through DSL. Japan Co., Ltd. (DSL). Evonik maintains a 51% share in DSL, a joint venture with the Shionogi & Co., Ltd. in Japan.

Applications for Sipernat and Carplex include their use as drug carriers in pharmaceuticals, as flow aids in powdered foods, a thickener for toothpastes, and in beer filtration,

Also. following expansion projects for specialty silica products in Europe and Asia, Evonik is now constructing a facility in Americana, Brazil, which will be the first plant in South America for highly dispersible (HD) silica, a product used primarily in tires with low rolling resistance. In the spring of 2015, the company began the initial planning stages of a new production plant for precipitated silica in the United States. The company hopes to finish construction by the end of 2017. The overall project—this would be the largest investment that Evonik has made in North America in the past five years—is still subject to board approval.

In addition to precipitated silica, the company also produces Aerosil fumed silica and Acematt silica-based matting agents. Evonik's worldwide production capacity for matting agents and for precipitated and fumed silicas is roughly 550,000 metric tons per year.

Source: Evonik