Phillips Carbon Black 'makes the grade'

Calcutta , India –  Phillips Carbon Black Ltd (PCBL) last week unveiled plans to invest Rs.300 crore (€40 million), to increase carbon black capacity at its Palej and Mundra facilities in Gujarat, India by 80 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) by the end of its fiscal 2019.

The RP SanJlv Goenka Group company said it was also evaluating plans for a 120ktpa  greenfield project with location options already being considered.

The expansion projects are in response to growing demand for carbon black which, said PCBL, is growing at 4-5% and 3-4% respectively in India and overseas.

The announcements accompanied a results statement for fiscal first-quarter 2018 showing total revenue up 33% to Rs.638.86 crore and pre-tax profit up 150% to Rs.66.30 crore. Profit after tax stormed in 407% higher at Rs.48.16 crore.

In its financial year 2017, ended 30 March, PCBL recorded the highest-ever carbon black production of 383.3ktpa across four plants in India – it also operates facilities at Durgapur, West Bengal and Kochi, Kerala.

The company exported 93,340 tonnes of its carbon black to more than 30 countries and sold another 294,066 tonnes within India. It portfolio included 24 grades of rubber blacks and 29 grades of non-rubber blacks.

In the full-year review, the company said it had “moved up the carbon black value chain by focusinq on higher performance rubber and speciality carbon blacks.”

PCBL added that it “successfully developed alternative feedstock sources, thus considerably reducing the risky dependence on one particular source of supply.”

“FY'17 was indeed a year of innovation with enhanced operational efficiencies, cost optimization and opening up new sales opportunities at home and abroad,” added PCBL.

PCBL also cogenerated 483 million units of power by converting lean gas into power for use in its own plants and selling the excess power to those who need it.