BOSTON – Boston-based Cabot Corp. completed an expansion project at its fumed silica facility in Barry, Wales, that increased production capacity by 25 percent. The expansion is part of a three-year plan started in 2011 to increase Cabot's global fumed metal oxide capacity by 35 to 40 percent.

This expansion project is an extension of Cabot's long-term relationship with Dow Corning. The increased production capacity also supports Cabot’s growth in the rising global silicones market, which is poised to grow at 6 to 9 percent per-year over the coming decade. Through the expansion project, Cabot can now use a wider range of silane raw materials to make a broader portfolio of products to meet silicones and other market needs.

Cabot and Dow Corning have worked closely together in Barry since 1991, when Cabot built its fumed silica facility adjacent to Dow Corning's silicone monomer plant. During this time, Cabot and Dow Corning have forged a strong relationship in Barry. As part of a highly interdependent and collaborative "fence-line" relationship, Dow Corning provides Cabot with silanes that are converted to fumed silica for Dow Corning's compounded silicones applications, as well as for other customers and applications including electronics, adhesives and composites.