Cabot Corporation’s President and CEO Sean Keohane and DowDuPont CFO Howard Ungerleider on Friday joined more than 150 local officials, business leaders and community members to celebrate the groundbreaking of Cabot’s fumed silica plant located adjacent to Dow’s Carrollton site in western Kentucky.

The groundbreaking coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Dow site in Carrollton and celebrates the Company’s history of innovation through silicones chemistry.

Announced in May 2017, the new manufacturing facility is scheduled to be operational by 2020.

Upon completion, the plant will incorporate Cabot’s latest technology advances into the plant design and operations. Additionally, the collocation enables a fence-line relationship with Dow, creating a closed-loop system that reduces transportation risks, increases manufacturing efficiencies and reduces waste.

“This is wonderful news for the Carrollton community and the region, as we welcome new manufacturing and celebrate 50 years of innovation,” said Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin. “Both of these companies, Cabot and Dow, bring a rich history of excellence to our state and a proud tradition of community and employee support.”

Dow and Cabot have developed a cooperative relationship as both supplier and customer to each other over the last 30 years, with current neighboring operations in Midland, Mich. and Barry, Wales.

Silicone products made at the Dow site are used by Cabot as a building block for producing fumed silica, an ultra-fine, high-purity particle used as a performance additive in a broad range of applications. Dow, in turn, uses Cabot’s fumed silica in its silicone products as well as by-product from Cabot’s process in its operations.

“We are proud to be a long-standing business partner and corporate citizen in Carrollton, and we are excited to recommit to the site and the community today with the groundbreaking of the new Cabot plant,” said Ungerleider. “The facility will provide a long-term supply of high quality fumed silica to Dow for use in applications for fast growing end-markets, including packaging and construction…” 

Added Keohane: “As leaders in our respective industries with a shared commitment to manufacturing and safety, health and environmental excellence, collocation in Carrollton was a natural fit.”



Photo courtesy Dow