Phillips Carbon Black to invest Rs. 200-crore towards capacity expansion

After scripting a turnaround and becoming profitable, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group owned Phillips Carbon Black Ltd. (PCBL) will invest Rs. 200-crore towards capacity expansion over the next two years. The focus will also be on increasing business from the speciality black segment.

According to Mr. Kaushik Roy, Managing Director, the company will look at 20-25% increase in its capacity to nearly 500,000-tpa, from the existing 410,000-tpa. Considered to be the seventh largest carbon black maker in the world and the largest in India, PCBL currently has four state-of-the art plants at Palej, Mundra (Gujarat), Durgapur (West Bengal), and Kochi (Kerala). Investments will mostly be through internal resources and bank loans.

“We have increased the capacity utilization of our plants to 90-95%, which was 70%. The demand scenario looks good and so we will look at brownfield expansion across all the units over the next two years,” he said.

Exports to Europe, South-East Asia and the US account for 30% of the company’s turnover. This number may move up once the capex plans materialize.

The next phase may see the company opt for acquisitions across Eastern and Central European nations. “Immediately there are no acquisition plans on the table. But, we may explore them at the right time,” he said.

Specialty Blacks

PCBL will also look to increase the share of Specialty Black offerings.

Typically, carbon black finds its use in rubber-related products with car tyre makers being the biggest customers.

While rubber and related industries account for nearly 90% of PCBL’s order books, the remaining 10% come from industries that use Specialty Black. Specialty Black finds its usage in plastic, paints and coatings.