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Solvay to boost worldwide vanillin production capacity with new manufacturing facility in China

Solvay to boost worldwide vanillin production capacity with new manufacturing facility in China

Lyon, France July 1, 2013 — Solvay announces today its decision to build a new state-of-the-art facility to manufacture vanillin in Zhenjiang City, in China’s Jiangsu Province, boosting its production capacities by 40% and enabling the Group to better serve the fast-growing Asian market.

Solvay Aroma Performance is the world’s biggest producer of vanillin with facilities in Baton Rouge in the United States and Saint-Fons in France. Combined with the new plant in Zhenjiang, expected to be operational by the end of 2014, the company’s worldwide production capacities for vanillin and ethyl-vanillin will expand significantly. Demand for vanillin in Asia is outpacing worldwide demand. The Zhenjiang facility will be fully compliant with both international and local stringent regulations.

With this new investment, Solvay Aroma Performance establishes a unique, sustainable and global industrial fully integrated vanillin platform, spread over three continents, and controls the entire production chain, from making the raw material catechol to flagship end products like Rhovanil® vanillin. A network of fully equipped food application laboratories and food technologists together with a dedicated sales force cater for specific local demands and serve clients worldwide with a complete product range to meet strict regulatory and customer safety requirements.

"The addition of this manufacturing facility in China makes of Solvay a uniquely positioned highly reliable partner for our 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" says Dominique Rage, President of Solvay Aroma Performance.

The Aroma Performance global business unit includes Solvay Group’s diphenol and fluorinated intermediates operations, comprising three main product segments: flavors and fragrances for the food and perfumery markets (with its flagship vanillin and ethyl-vanillin product line sold under the Rhovanil® and Rhodiarome® brand names); intermediates for the crop protection, pharmaceutical and electronics markets; and finally, inhibitors solutions used for by-products of the petrochemical industry.

As an international chemical group, SOLVAY assists industries in finding and implementing ever more responsible and value-creating solutions. The Group is firmly committed to sustainable development and focused on innovation and operational excellence. Solvay serves diversified markets, generating 90% of its turnover in activities where it is one of the top three worldwide. The group is headquartered in Brussels, employs about 29,000 people in 55 countries and generated 12.4 billion euros in net sales in 2012. Solvay SA (SOLB.BE) is listed on NYSE EURONEXT in Brussels and Paris (Bloomberg: SOLB.BB – Reuters: SOLBt.BR).

Solvay Aroma Performance
Anne-Elisabeth Mourey
anne-elisabeth.mourey@solvay.com
+33 (0)6 07 66 31 94

Industrial Media Relations
Alan Flower
alan.flower@indmr.com
+32 (0)474 117091