Phillips Carbon Black Defers Vietnam Project

According to an article at DNA, an Indian news site, Phillips Carbon Black has decided to defer a project to build a 55,000 tonnes per year carbon black plant along with a 16 megawatt power plant in Vietnam. The $46 million project is a joint venture between Phillips Carbon Black and Vietnam National Chemical Corporation (Vinachem). According to the article, the project was put on hold because of the economic slowdown.

The blog has previously reported on the Vietnam plant here, here, and here.

Under the original schedule, the plant would have come on-stream around mid-2010. It would be PCBL’s first carbon black plant outside India.

According to sources, the site for the Vietnam project has been identified and a token amount for land remitted. Sources said that the final payment is to be released after financial closure, but this has been deferred until the global liquidity scenario looks up. However, the environment impact assessment study (EIA) has commenced, and commercial production is expected to start within 18 months of the financial closure.

PCBL’s new greenfield carbon black project at Mundra, India is proceeding on schedule, and is due on-stream during the second quarter of FY 2009/10 (i.e., third quarter 2009). The project includes a 90 KTPY carbon black plant and a 16 MW cogen plant. The structural and civil work on the project has been completed.