Rhodia seeks five-year supply deals to ease silica shortage; Silica is in short supply, but Rhodia wants commitment from customers before it will build another plant.(Suppliers)(Rhodia Silcea licensing agreement with Degussa AG (Dusseldorf, Germany))

European Rubber Journal, March, 2007 by Shaw, David

Byline: David Shaw

Highly-dispersible silica is in short supply and getting tighter, according to Peter Browning, global business director of Rhodia Silcea, the silica unit of French conglomerate, Rhodia.

Since it co-developed highly dispersible silicas with Michelin in the early 1990s, Rhodia has been the market leader in the field. Today, it continues to dominate the sector with around 50 percent market share, according to data supplied by Notch Consulting*.

Highly dispersible silica (HDS) is a relatively small - but fast-growing - segment of the overall silica industry. In a total silica market of around 1500 kt per year, roughly 435 kt is used in tyres according to Notch, but the highly-dispersible segment occupies just 200 kt. However...

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