Phillips Carbon Black signs MOU to build production facility in India

KOLKATA, India—Phillips Carbon Black Ltd. has progressed its plans to establish a greenfield production facility in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Tamil Nadu on Nov. 23 for the construction of its fifth manufacturing site.

The "state-of-the-art" plant will have a capacity to produce 147 kilotons per annum of carbon black products and will generate 24 megawatts of green power, said PCBL in a Nov. 28 statement.

The facility, it added, will be built based on Industry 4.0 standards and is aimed at strengthening the company's foothold as "a global player." Construction of the unit is set for completion in 2023.

Unveiling the $76 million project near Chennai in January, PCBL said the plant would manufacture "various grades of rubber and specialty carbon blacks."

The plant is the latest in a series of expansion projects undertaken by the Indian manufacturer. Late last year, PCBL added two specialty carbon production lines at its facility in Palej with a combined capacity of 30 ktpa.

In 2019, the supplier expanded production at its brownfield unit in Mundra, Gujarat by 50 ktpa.

In addition, PCBL's innovation center in Belgium became operational in summer 2020, strengthening the company's research and development capabilities.

PCBL is estimated to be the largest Indian carbon black producer with around 570 ktpa of production capacity, followed by Birla Carbon, with about 310 ktpa.