Carbon black maker CSRC posts €80m loss, continues supply optimisation

Taipei – Taiwanese carbon black producer International CSRC Corp. has reported a full-year loss of NT$2.7 billion (€79 million) for 2024, as it pushes forward with restructuring efforts aimed at restoring profitability.

The parent company of Continental Carbon finalised the sale of its loss-making Chongqing plant and shutdown down its Anshan facility in China last year, booking a one-time loss of NT$1.24 billion.

Addressing the CSRC annual general meeting 28 May, chairman Douglas Koo acknowledged that the group had “not yet returned to profitability” due to continued market imbalance.

Following its exit from the two sites in China, the group plans to shift focus to “higher-growth regions, particularly India and Turkey,” while pursuing product upgrades and research into carbon nanotubes, Koo added.

CEO Jack Lee expanded on CSRC’s global strategy and regional plans.

In China, Lee said the group's Ma’anshan plant will adopt a “full production, full sales” operating model and begin to sell steam to strengthen revenue streams.

In India, its CCET subsidiary in Dahej is set to launch a fourth production line in June.

The facility, operational since October 2022, has a capacity of 150 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) of carbon black and is focused on meeting domestic demand.

In Taiwan, the Linyuan plant completed scheduled maintenance and boiler upgrades in 2024 and will continue expanding sales of conductive carbon black.

The site is also preparing for carbon nanotube production.

CSRC is also advancing a a joint venture project with local partner OYAK, in Iskenderun, Turkey, with an initial production capacity of 180ktpa.

The plant is expected to be operational before the end of the year.

On the sustainability front, CSRC said its Ma’anshan unit in China has been designated as a pilot site for sustainable carbon black (SCB) production using TPO (pyrolysis oil) as feedstock.

Trial production with a 25% TPO mix has already been completed, with a goal of reaching 100% TPO usage by year-end, it added.

If successful, CSRC would become the third company globally – alongside Orion and Cabot – to have the technology.

The company is also arranging long-term supply agreements with major customers for SCB products.

Lee highlighted the group’s 30-year presence in the US, where local manufacturing has helped shield the company from tariff risks.

As customers such as Bridgestone and Goodyear expand US output in line with reshoring policies, CSRC expects increased sales momentum at its US subsidiary, CCC.

In support of growing demand for sustainable carbon black in North America, CSRC is also progressing a joint venture with Eco Infinic to build a recovered carbon black (rCB) facility in Phenix City, Alabama – the former site of a Continental Carbon plant.

The project is scheduled for start-up in 2027 with annual capacities of 30ktpa of rCB and 35ktpa of TPO, according to CSRC.

Despite ongoing global uncertainties, CSRC said it will continue to pursue transformation “towards sustainability and high-value products,” under its revised global capacity strategy.

“We are ending long-term losses and shifting to growth regions,” said chairman Koo.

“Like carbon black itself – dark but full of potential – CSRC is undergoing a deep transformation.”