On July 17, Birla Carbon (Marietta, Georgia and Mumbai, India) announced expansions in multiple regions to support customers in the growing carbon black market. Significant debottlenecking at Birla Carbon’s factories in Egypt and Italy before the end of Q3 2018; restarting a production line in Thailand by the end of Q4 2018; and installing of new production lines in India with a start date of Q4 2019 will enable it to raise its capacities considerably. In total, Birla Carbon will be adding 150,000 tons per year of new capacity on line over the next 18 months. Furthermore, Birla plans to add another 120,000 tons per year at its newest plant in China, though no completion date was announced.
In a press release announcing the projects, Dr. Santrupt Misra, Birla Carbon’s Chief Executive Officer, said “Birla Carbon is committed to supporting our customers’ growing needs in all geographies. Implementation of these projects are underway after a series of development initiatives were identified to meet market requirements.” He further shares, “We have leveraged our latest technology to ensure the highest quality products and most reliable operations.”
Adds John Loudermilk, Chief Operating Officer, “The new capacities will enable us to serve a range of segments including production capability for high value, differentiated products in the tire, rubber goods, and specialty markets.”