MUMBAI, India (May 4) — Two separate announcements will lead to more carbon black being made in India.
Aditya Birla said its Thai Carbon Black unit will bring on stream a 60,000 metric tons per year brownfield expansion in June, and is in the process of buying land on which to construct a 120,000-ton greenfield project in western India.
Separately, Philips Carbon Black, owned by the RPG Group, said it is expanding production by 125,000 tons a year, bringing total annual production capacity to 395,000 tons.
Philips said it will build a new plant in Mundhra. The facility will have the capacity to produce 75,000 tons of black a year, but will be capable of expansion.
RPG Vice Chairman Sanjiv Goenka didn´t disclose when the unit will go on stream. He did say the company is considering acquisitions or joint ventures outside of India, in Asia or Eastern Europe.
Philips also is adding 50,000 tons of capacity to its Kochi unit.