India:Himadri To Invest Rs. 1,000-Crore In Speciality Carbon Black Business

Himadri Speciality Chemical Ltd. (HSCL) will be investing Rs. 1,000-crore to expand its carbon black business. The company will be setting up new carbon black lines in its existing integrated plant in Mahistikry, West Bengal for producing speciality carbon blacks.

HSCL has a fully integrated specialty carbon complex, specialising in developing COAL TAR by-products and derivatives including advanced carbon material, coal tar pitch, Carbon Black, corrosion protection, naphthalene and sulphonated naphthalene formaldehyde (SNF). The company enjoys a significant presence in the Aluminium, graphite electrode, lithium-ion batteries, infrastructure, tyres and rubber and non-rubber application sectors.

“With 17% market share, Himadri Speciality is the third largest player in the field of carbon black in the country. Now with an investment of Rs. 1,000-crore towards our new product lines in Mahistikry, we in due course would introduce the entire range of specialty carbon black, which is a highly technical product with significant entry barriers and currently dominated by only a handful of global players. This expansion will generate direct and indirect employment opportunity for over 1,500 people,” said Mr. Anurag Choudhary, CEO, HSCL.

According to him, the technologies for the products have been successfully developed in-house by its R&D team. These grades of speciality blacks have a several applications ranging from tyres, wires & cables, moulded rubber goods, plastic, inks & coatings and fibres, amongst many other products. “We are proud that through years of indigenous R&D efforts we have been able to develop not only the products but also the technology for producing them,” he added in a press statement.

The R&D Centre of HSCL is accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and is recognized by the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India.

As per the press statement, India’s consumption of carbon black is growing by about 6.3% per year.