NEW YORK—Asia Carbon Industries Inc. said its conversion of carbon black production from a commodity to a specialty grade is on schedule for a third-quarter launch.
The Chinese company said while the change has impacted its operation results, it expects to see returns on the investment as soon as production restarts, since specialty grades of carbon black cost about $2,400 per ton, compared to $1,000 for commodity grades.
"We undertook this project to better serve our primary customer, tire manufacturers, particularly those that produce higher quality tires," said Yao Guoyun, Asia Carbon chairwoman and CEO. "China is not only the world's largest producer of tires, it is also the largest consumer, and we believe our ability to offer our customers a higher grade product positions Asia Carbon to fully participate in this thriving market."