Solvays micronized PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), marketed under the brand name Polymist, is used in high performance lubricants, cosmetics, high gloss inks, heat resistant materials, and other applications. Demand in Asia, and particularly in China, for micronized PTFE is fueled by fast development of a domestic customer base as well as by the establishment of local production facilities by a number of Solvays global clients, the company said.

Solvay declined to disclose the amount of its investment in the new specialty polymer plant.

The Polymist factory will be built in Changshu, about 100 kilometers west of Shanghai, in Jiangsu High-Tech Fluorochemical Industrial Park. It will be operated through Solvay Specialty Polymers Changshu, a newly created, fully owned subsidiary of Solvay.

The Polymist facility and its products will be managed by the operating units of Solvay Solexis, another 100 percent subsidiary of Solvay. Deploying a local production capacity enables us to offer world class products and services to our local clients as well as to our global customers, with all the advantages linked to proximity, in terms of logistics and reactivity, said Pierre Joris, CEO of Solvay Solexis.

Based in Brussels, Belgium, Solvay employs about 30,000 people in 50 countries. Its 2005 consolidated sales were 8.6 billion (U.S. $11 billion).