The Hindu Business Line reports that Himadri Specialty Chemicals plans to invest ₹1,000 crore ($154M) over five years to expand its carbon black business. The company plans to set up new carbon black lines at its existing integrated plant at Mahistikry, West Bengal, India to produce specialty carbon black.
According to Anurag Choudhary, CEO, Himadri currently has a capacity of 120,000 tons of carbon black per year and will add 200,000 tons of capacity over the next five years. “We will be investing close to ₹300-400 crore (out of the ₹1,000-crore) in the first phase to add close to 60,000 tonne capacity. Commercial production (from this expansion) is likely by April 2019,” Mr. Choudhary said at a press conference in Kolkata on Wednesday. Himadri plans to introduce close to 40 new grades of carbon black and expects to clock additional revenue of ₹2,500-3,000 crore from the new product lines once it is fully operational.
Specialty grades of carbon black find applications in racing tires, moulded rubber goods, wires, cables and fibers. Once the new capacity is fully operational, Himadri plans to supply the domestic India market for specialty carbon black and export up to 80% of its production to North America, Europe, Asia and West Asia. According to Mr. Choudhury, “There is hardly any big player in India in this segment. These speciality chemicals were being imported from the USA and Germany. Our products will be of import substitution by nature.”
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