BEIJING (March 16)—Carbon black producer CSRC China Corp., a subsidiary of Taiwan's China Synthetic Rubber Corp., is planning to modernize and double the size of its plant in Maanshan City, China, with the help of equity and debt financing from a unit of the World Bank.
CSRC China said the project, valued at $27 million, would make it the largest producer of carbon black in China, with 125,000 metric tons of annual capacity. The project will involve debottlenecking the existing facilities, adding a production line and building additional power generation capacity.
The World Bank's private sector International Finance Corp. arm has agreed to provide up to $12 million in financing—$1 million in direct equity investment and $11 million in loan form. The IFC already is a minority shareholder and provided $11 million in financing in 2002 for the company's original project to upgrade and modernize the carbon black factory.
"The new financing demonstrates IFC's long-term commitment as a partner and confidence in the company's prospects," said Rashad Kaldany, director of Oil, Gas, Mining and Chemicals for the IFC. "The company has shown a strong commitment to international environmental and social standards."