HPL stuck with Rs 170-cr inventory

Arpan Mukherjee

Kolkata, Nov 27: Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) is stuck with inventory worth around Rs 170 crore following a steady decline in sales over the past three months. Two of the five heaters at its Rs 5,600 crore plant in West Bengal have stopped operating.

HPL sources said that the production of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) has been stopped while that of polypropylene and high density polyethylene (HDPE) has been cut by half.

HPL’s official spokesman confirmed the dip in polymer sales. “There has been a definite dip in sales in the month of October,” he said.

According to him, monthly polymer sales were around 50,000 tonnes in June and July 2001. It dipped in September to 42,000 tonnes and then to 32,000 tonnes in October. Company officials expect sales to increase to 39,000 tonnes during November. Details of product-wise sales were not made available.

Officials said all Indian polymer manufacturers were suffering a significant dip in sales. He pointed out that all the polymer plants were running at full capacity during June and July, in the expectation of a demand surge in the second half of the year, which did not happen.

The problem of dipping sales was accelerated by the events of September 11 and the demand crashed, affecting the entire industry. On the export front, the offtake had been even worse, HPL spokesman added.