MARIETTA, Ga.—Birla Carbon unveiled plans to expand four of its carbon black facilities worldwide, adding 150,000 metric tons of capacity in the next 18 months. Chief Operating Officer John Loudermilk said the expansions will allow the carbon black producer to better meet the needs of the tire, rubber goods, and specialty markets.
Birla plans to significantly debottleneck factories in Egypt and Italy before the end of the third quarter of 2018, and is preparing restart a production line in Thailand by the end of fourth quarter.
In India, two new production lines are expected to come on stream by the end of the fourth quarter in 2019.
The firm noted plans to expand capacity its newest facility in China by 120,000 tons at "the opportune time."
"Birla Carbon is committed to supporting our customers' growing needs in all geographies," CEO Santrupt Misra said in a statement. "...We have leveraged our latest technology to ensure the highest quality products and most reliable operations."
Birla, part of the Aditya Birla Group, is a manufacturer and supplier of carbon black.