BKT carbon black plant opening end of March

On 8 February 2019 Balkrishna Industries’ (BKT) confirmed that the first phase of its new carbon black plant will be commissioned by 31 March 2019.

The facility will have phase-one capacity of 60,000 metric tonnes annually, the company said. Phase two of the project will allow for 80,000 metric tonnes of production and is likely to be commissioned between 2020 and 2021.

In January BKT said the new carbon black facility in Bhuj, India was nearly complete. The 8 hectare site, a $23 million investment, will provide the raw material for the company’s growing tire business.

Dilip Vaidya, BKT’s president and director of technology, said the plant allows “…major flexibility in dosing, without depending on external suppliers and enables us to better ensure raw material quality, and greater variety of high-quality carbon black to be used for specific formulations during the compounding stage.

Rajiv Poddar, joint managing director of BKT, added: “Out of this capacity, 50 per cent will be used for our tyre manufacturing process and the remaining 50 per cent will be sold on the market….”