Cabot to acquire Tokai Carbon plant in China

Boston, Massachusetts – Cabot Corp. has entered a definitive agreement to acquire the Tokai Carbon (Tianjin) Co. Ltd operation from Tokai Carbon Group for $9 million (€8 million).

Tokai Carbon’s carbon black manufacturing facility is located in close proximity to Cabot’s current carbon black and speciality compounds facility in Tianjin, China, noted Cabot’s announcement 15 Nov.

"The Tokai Carbon (Tianjin) facility currently produces carbon black for tire and industrial rubber customers," a Cabot spokeswoman said in a written reply to ERJ - without giving details about capacity.

The acquisition, she said, will "come with an existing customer base for our Reinforcement Materials segment and Cabot plans to continue to serve these customers while we upgrade certain manufacturing equipment."

The plant, according to the spokeswoman, can currently produce up to 35 kilotonne per annum of carbon black.

Upon completion of the transaction, Cabot will continue to service the existing carbon black customers from existing capabilities.

"Concurrently, Cabot will begin the conversion and expansion project to produce products for the Battery Materials businesses," she added.

The upgrades to manufacturing and environmental equipment will enable the site to manufacture conductive carbon black for battery materials as well as other carbon black products while meeting environmental standards.

“The acquisition is expected to support the growth of Cabot’s Battery Materials product line, while continuing to serve existing carbon black customers,” according to Cabot’s statement.

“[It] aligns with our strategy to strengthen our global leadership positions while pursuing advantaged growth opportunities in high-growth, high-performance markets such as battery materials,” said Sean Keohane, Cabot president and CEO. 

“With this acquisition, we will be better positioned to deliver solutions to meet the rapidly increasing demands for lithium-ion batteries and will do so by operating responsibly and investing in advanced environmental controls to reduce our impact.”

The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.