— By Plasteurope.com staff — 

In addition to a reorganisation, carbon black manufacturer Birla Carbon (Mumbai, Maharashtra; India; www.birlacarbon.com) said it is planning a review of its 19 production sites worldwide. Although the review has not yet been completed, the direction of the new strategy already appears clear. CEO John Loudermilk recently described market developments in Europe and the Americas as weaker, while characterising Asia as an emerging growth market.

Initially, the structure introduced in 2020 with six business areas will be consolidated into three regional units: Asia, Americas & EMEA, and Specialty Materials for carbon black products related to plastics as well as carbon nanotubes.

Related: Carbon black producer Cabot plans price hikes and surcharges

Between 2022 and 2024, Birla Carbon had already announced several expansion projects, primarily intended to strengthen production in Asia. A spokesperson has since told Plasteurope.com that construction of the two new plants in  India and Thailand, each with a capacity of 120,000 t/y, is progressing well. Commissioning is scheduled for later this year. This would bring the total number of sites to 19.

At the same time, the carbon black producer intended to expand its existing plants in Hungary, China, and India.

In terms of production capacity, Birla Carbon currently shares the global number one position with competitor Cabot (Boston, Massachusetts, USA; www.cabotcorp.com). Following consolidation at Cabot, both companies now have capacities of around 2.2 mn to 2.4 mn t/y. Third-placed Orion Engineered Carbons (Houston, Texas, USA; www.orioncarbons.com) trails significantly behind with approximately 1.4 mn t/y.