1. Embargo: June 4, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. (Brussels time)
SOLVAY INDUPA SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES UPGRADE AND EXPANSION OF
ITS VINYL ACTIVITIES IN BRAZIL
Solvay strengthens competitiveness of its PVC plant at Santo André, Brazil
Solvay announces today that Solvay Indupa successfully concluded the three-year and 150 million USD
investment program to upgrade and expand the operations at its Santo André plant in Brazil by starting up
a new membrane chlor-alkali unit (MCA) associated with the expansion of the downstream vinyl chloride
monomer (VCM) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) manufacturing facility. The investment program was also
used to change the layout of the plant into a more innovative, safer, modern and efficient layout by
merging the MCA and VCM units into one integrated facility, resulting into a reduced investment, an
energetically optimized process and a productivity increase on the site.
The Santo Andre plant has now a total annual VCM and PVC production capacity of 300,000 metric tons,
with world-class, state-of-the-art installations. PVC is used in indoor and outdoor construction, sheathing
and insulating energy, automotive, telecommunications and special cables, electro-technical equipment,
fluid transport systems at low or medium pressure and packaging.
The investment also includes a new unit of chlorine and caustic soda production based on the most
efficient membrane technology, with consequent deactivation of the old unit based on mercury. This
results in a reduction by 30% of electric energy consumption. This new unit increases caustic soda
production capacity to 170,000 tons per year.
“Solvay is implementing a consistent strategy of sustainable and profitable growth, feeding on constant
improvements to stay at the leading edge of competitiveness and on geographical expansion,” says
Jacques van Rijckevorsel, Group General Manager of the Plastics Sector and member of the Executive
Committee, Solvay. “This sizeable investment in a very dynamic region with a structural deficit of PVC and
caustic soda will support the development of the market,” adds Jacques van Rijckevorsel.
The Solvay group is one of the world’s leading vinyl producers, ranking second in Europe and third
globally. In addition to SolVin, its joint venture with BASF in Europe, the Group’s activities in PVC and other
products of the vinyl chain span across Asia and Latin America, through the affiliates Vinythai in Thailand
and Solvay Indupa in Argentina and Brazil.
Solvay Indupa is a company from the Solvay Group and one of the most important petrochemical
companies in the Mercosur. Its main products are PVC resins and Caustic Soda. Solvay Indupa has its main
offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina and two industrial sites: one in Bahía Blanca (Argentina) and the other in
Santo André (Brazil). Solvay holds 69.9% of Solvay Indupa, which is listed on the Buenos Aires stock
market.
SOLVAY is an international chemical and pharmaceutical Group with headquarters in Brussels. It employs
more than 29,000 people in 50 countries. In 2008, its consolidated sales amounted to EUR 9.5 billion,
generated by its three sectors of activity: Chemicals, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals. Solvay is listed on the
NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Brussels (NYSE Euronext: SOLB.BE - Bloomberg: SOLB.BB - Reuters:
SOLBt.BR). Details are available at www.solvay.com.
For further information please contact:
ERIK DE LEYE PATRICK VERELST
Corporate Press Officer Head of Investor Relations
SOLVAY S.A. SOLVAY S.A.
Tel: +32 2 509 7230 Tel. +32 2 509 7243
erik.deleye@solvay.com patrick.verelst@solvay.com
www.solvaypress.com www.solvay-investors.com
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