BOSTON – Cabot Corp., producer of carbon black, plans to invest more than $180 million between now and 2013 to expand manufacturing capacity in some of the fastest growing regions of the world, company officials announced.

Cabot is expanding capacity at plants in China, Indonesia, Brazil and Argentina by the end of 2013, as well as adding capacity at three facilities in Europe.

The expansions will increase Cabot's annual global carbon black output by about 15 percent, or more than 300,000 metric tons.

Investments in South America, specifically in Brazil and Argentina, will increase Cabot's capacity in that region by approximately 20 percent.

In Indonesia, Cabot is increasing capacity by about 50 percent, through a newly announced expansion project in Cilegon and a previously announced expansion in Merak.

In Europe, Cabot is also preparing de-bottlenecking actions in Europe, which will expand the company's capacity by 10 percent.

In China, Cabot has announced it has entered into a joint venture with Risun Chemicals Co. Ltd. to construct a state-of-the-art carbon black facility in Xingtai. The new facility will expand Cabot's capacity in China by approximately 25 percent, with 130,000 metric tons of capacity and the potential for expansion to 300,000 metric tons.