Rhodia upgrades facilities
Cranbury, NJ, US-based, Rhodia is now shipping methyl salicylate and derivatives from a new, upgraded facility at its French site in Saint-Fons, France.
As a result of a e10m (US$9m) investment during the past year, the facility is now fully automated and features improved processes to increase environmental and safety performance.
Manufacturing capacity at Saint-Fons has also been increased significantly, making it the world's largest methyl salicylate facility, and the company intends to phase out production of the chemical at its St. Louis site in the US. 'This major upgrade will enable Rhodia to further differentiate its products from others in the market and improve the state of its methyl salicylate business,' said Antoine Baule, worldwide president of Rhodia's pharmaceutical ingredients enterprise.
'Saint-Fons is the most compliant cGMP methyl salicylate operation in the world, and it is being supplied salicylic acid from the only FDA-inspected salicylic acid operation in the world, the Rhodia facility in nearby Roussillon.'
Methyl salicylate is a popular intermediate in various pharmaceutical and agrochemical products. Rhodia produces several tens of thousand of tons of salicylic acid and its derivatives in seven different locations around the world.