Cabot Corp. (Boston, MA) has opened a new black masterbatch manufacturing facility in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai. The plant has an initial production capacity of 25,000 tonnes/year with provision to expand to 75,000 tonnes in the future. The supplier built the new plant to help service what it says is an increasing demand for masterbatch in the Middle East, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

In recent years, the Middle East has become a major producer of polyolefins and downstream compounds, currently producing approximately one-fifth of the world's polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). Applications in building infrastructure for water supply, electricity, and telecommunications projects, all key applications for black masterbatch, continue to see solid growth rates there.