Plans to ramp up carbon black output

Kolkata-based Himadri Speciality Chemicals will invest ₹1,000 crore to ramp up its speciality carbon black facility by adding new lines to its unit at Singur in West Bengal.

Anurag Choudhary, CEO, HSCL, said: “With this investment at Mahistikry, West Bengal, we, in due course, will introduce an entire range of speciality black carbon, which is a highly technical product, where there are only a handful of global players.”

Output expansion

The investment would result in HSCL’s carbon black output increasing from 1.2 lakh tonnes to 3.2 lakh tonnes in five years, with simultaneous augmentation of the speciality carbon black product basket from 15 grades to 40 new grades. The know-how for these products has been developed at HSCL’s R&D facility. The erstwhile Himadri Chemicals, whose main product was coal tar pitch, entered the field of carbon black production in 2010. It subsequently changed its name to the present one, capturing 17 % of the carbon black market. Speciality carbon production marks a movement up the value-chain with most carbon black production companies adopting this route to widen its market beyond automobiles. HSCL is among the largest vertically integrated speciality carbon companies in India.

“Speciality carbon black finds use in high-end products like racing car tyres and in many items of daily use,” Mr. Chaudhary said. Many of these products were imported and the new lines, which will go commercial from April 2019, will help HSCL to manufacture import substitutes.

Additionally it is also focussing on overseas markets in North America, Europe, Asia, West Asia and South East Asia.

It now has four units in West Bengal, and one each in Vishakhapatnam, Korba, Gujarat, Odisha and in China.