PPG to sell silicates to the Polish firm Qemetica

PPG has agreed to sell its precipitated silicas business to the Warsaw, Poland–based conglomerate Qemetica for $310 million. PPG said in January that it was exploring strategic options for the business. The unit, which has 400 employees, represented 1–2% of PPG’s sales of $18.2 billion in 2023. It has plants in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Delfzijl, the Netherlands. As part of the transaction, Qemetica will lease PPG’s silicas manufacturing and research locations in Barberton, Ohio, and Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Qemetica says the acquisition is one of the largest ever by a Polish company in the US. The firm, which has annual sales of about $1.1 billion, is one of Europe’s largest producers of silicates, used to make silica. Its other businesses include soda ash, salt, and polyurethanes.