Birla carbon’s greenfield facility commences operations in Jining, China

 Birla Carbon’s largest engagement in China, its greenfield 1,20,000 metric tonnes carbon black project in Jining, Shandong province, was inaugurated today at the hands of Dr. Santrupt Misra, Chief Executive Officer, Birla Carbon. Senior Chinese dignitaries, Media, Aditya Birla Group and Birla Carbon senior management representatives graced the occasion. The Jining plant, which currently has an installed capacity of 1,20,000 metric tonnes, will expand to 2,40,000 metric tonnes in phase 2.

Said Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, “While the Aditya Birla Group has always had a presence in China – we have not leveraged the potential that both we as a Group and China as a market place had to offer. We are delighted to have finally taken the right step to invest in a meaningful way in this great country of culture, history and civilization.” He further stated, “The Jining plant is well ahead of its time, whether it be the manufacturing processes involved or the environmental standards, it follows. Everything that we have learned over our 150 plus years of manufacturing carbon black around the world has been poured into this facility. It is, in a manner of speaking, our magnum opus.”

“China is an important market for Birla Carbon in Far East Asia. Many of our customers are based out of China with operations across the rest of Asia. With the Jining facility, we now have the opportunity to address the needs of our Chinese customers from within China,” commented Mr. Sanjeev Sood, President, South East and Far East Asia region, Birla Carbon and Country Head, Aditya Birla Group Affairs, Thailand. “The Jining facility will cater to the increasing requirements of top 4-5 growing tire manufacturers and multinational tire manufacturers in the region,” averred Mr. Sood.

The Birla Carbon Jining plant will produce traditional ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) grades and specific Birla Carbon grades for customers in China. The ASTM grades will focus on the tire industry while many of the Birla Carbon grades will support mechanical rubber goods and other customer requirements.

Birla Carbon Jining will be an ‘energy positive’ plant. The plant has its own energy management system. The cogen facility will generate high pressure steam and electricity which will first cater to captive consumption and have surplus electricity exported to state grid. The plants replacement of state grid electricity will contribute in reducing fossil fuel usage and subsequently emissions.

The Jining facility uses state-of-the-art De-SOx and De-NOx boilers. These ultra-modern emission control capabilities are aligned to the Chinese environment norms to be adapted by 2021.

Keeping sustainability as part of its global priorities, the Jining plant has been designed based on Birla Carbon’s Sustainable Operational Excellence (SOE) approach. Technology has been used to ensure direct CO2 emissions per tonne of carbon black produced is much lower than the industry benchmark. The plant will operate at maximum efficiency at all times.