Clariant expands bleaching earth capacity in Mexico

• Tonsil® bleaching earth ensures reliable, high-quality purification solutions for edible oils for the North & South American markets
• Tonsil CO grades will offer an innovative solution for the purification of petrochemical streams like aromatics and jetfuel

Muttenz, April 13, 2016 – Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, is increasing production capacity for Tonsil® bleaching earths and Tonsil Coarse Optimized (CO) grades at its Puebla site in Mexico by 30 %. The additional capacity comes on stream as of April 2016, concluding two years of work of an investment in the mid single-digit million range in Swiss francs to expand the production capabilities of Clariant's newest Tonsil production line at Puebla.

Puebla is the second biggest site for bleaching earth production of the Business Unit Functional Minerals. Logistics there are favored by the site's proximity to the company's own mine and a fully integrated supply chain to its end customers in North and South America.

"Clariant's Puebla site has been providing solutions to the edible oil industry for more than 50 years, continually investing in new technologies to attend customer demands for high quality purification options. This latest expansion will enable us to respond to new market opportunities being created by rising demand in both North and South America", said Hariolf Kottmann, CEO of Clariant.

Sven Schultheis, Head of Business Unit Functional Minerals, stated: "Following continuous success of bleaching earth and mineral absorbents business in the Americas, this investment further strengthens our ability to be a key supplier for the edible oil industry and reinforces our commitment to support market development and growth by our customers in this important segment. It is especially important for those operating in the field of purification of canola oil in North America."

Today a considerable share of edible oil produced globally is treated with Tonsil bleaching earths. They set the gold standard in efficient and sustainable edible oil purification through the use of natural resources, the efficient removal of impurities from all kinds of oils, and minimizing waste throughout the entire process. The highly activated Tonsil (CO) grades offer customers the highest level of versatility and effectiveness in the treatment of petrochemical streams like aromatics and jetfuel.

The capacity expansion in Mexico is an integral part of Clariant's multimillion Swiss francs expansion plan of Tonsil bleaching earths. This includes further investments in Mexico, Turkey and the construction of a new site in Indonesia to offer products close to the customers, and to achieve optimized mine-production-market footprints paired with excellent local technical service and outstanding product performance.