Belgian chemical company Solvay has announced plans to construct a new facility to manufacture vanillin in Zhenjiang City, China, as part of its efforts to better serve the fast-growing Asian market.
The new facility, which will be established by Solvay Aroma Performance, will allow the company to boost its production capacities by 40%.
Solvay Aroma Performance is a producer of vanillin with facilities in Baton Rouge in the US and Saint-Fons, France.
The facility, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2014, will significantly expand the company's worldwide production capacities for vanillin and ethyl-vanillin.
Solvay stated that the facility will comply with both international and local regulatory standards.
With this investment, Solvay Aroma Performance is establishing a unique, sustainable and global industrial fully integrated vanillin platform, which is spread across three continents, and controls the entire production chain, from making the raw material catechol to end products such as Rhovanil vanillin.
Solvay Aroma Performance president Dominique Rage said that the addition of this facility in China makes of Solvay a uniquely positioned reliable partner for its worldwide customers, especially those in the highly regulated food industry.
"It is an important step in our strategy to continue strengthening our market position, by offering a truly global production footprint that ensures full traceability for food safety and to consolidate Solvay as the global reference for food-safe vanillin," Rage added.
The Aroma Performance global business unit includes Solvay's diphenol and fluorinated intermediates operations, comprising three main product segments - flavors and fragrances for the food and perfumery markets; intermediates for the crop protection, pharmaceutical and electronics markets; and inhibitors solutions used for by-products of the petrochemical industry.
