Phillips Carbon Black progressing new production project

Kolkata, India – Indian carbon black manufacturer Phillips Carbon Black Ltd (PCBL) is “progressing strategically” with a project to establish a 150 kilotonne per year (ktpa) production plant in southern India, the company has announced.

The manufacturer expects to invest a total of Rs6 billion (€67 million) in the greenfield plant, which will be located near Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, according to a recent quarterly update.

Set for completion in 2023, the plant will manufacture various grades of rubber black and speciality carbon black, PCBL said.

The Indian supplier did not specify if construction work has already started on the plant, but said that a wholly owned subsidiary – PCBL (TN) Ltd – had been incorporated at the end of September for that purpose.

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

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

In addition, PCBL's innovation centre in Belgium became operational in summer 2020, strengthening the company’s R&D capabilities.

Working in tandem with Sushila Goenka Innovation Centre in Palej, Gujarat, the centre will increase focus on process & machine technology, yield-improvement, feedstock-efficiency and customisation of grades.

PCBL is estimated to be the largest Indian carbon black producer: with 571ktpa of production capacity, followed by Birla Carbon, with 314ktpa of output.