Phillips Carbon Black Limited (PCBL), a part of RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, during its 62nd Annual General Meeting, said that it has embarked on two expansion projects – the first is greenfield expansion in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and the second is a brownfield project at Mundra, Gujarat. “The first phase with 63,000 MTPA capacity has been successfully commissioned, and upon completion, the plant will add 1,47,000 MTPA of carbon black capacity and 24 MW of green power. The second is a brownfield expansion at our Mundra plant in Gujarat, with an estimated specialty chemical capacity of 40,000 MTPA. This expansion is divided into two phases, and the first phase of the specialty chemical line is projected to be commissioned by Q1 FY 2023-24,” said Sanjiv Goenka, Chairperson, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group. With this, the total manufacturing capacity of the company is projected to be 7,90,000 MTPA and 122 MW of green power.
PCBL’s manufacturing plants are located in Durgapur (West Bengal), Palej & Mundra (Gujarat), Kochi (Kerala) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu). The company has a manufacturing capacity of 6,66,000 MTPA (including commissioning of the first phase with 63,000 MTPA of the Greenfield Project at Chennai) and green power generation capacity of 98 MW.
PCBL is also investing in its R&D Centre in India and innovation centre in Belgium. “Our R&D Centre in India and Innovation Centre at Belgium, in tandem with the Process Technology team, is enabling us to expand our product portfolio as well as undertake process innovations to cater to the evolving needs of our customers,” said Kaushik Roy, Managing Director, Phillips Carbon Black Limited (PCBL). With this, the company has been able to develop new and improved grades of performance and specialty chemicals for various segments such as tyres, inks & coatings, engineering plastics, fibres, conductives, and batteries, among others, he added.
Further, the company is also working towards penetrating new geographies and expanding its global footprint. “We aim to accomplish this by exploring the emerging opportunities presented in untapped markets. Hence, it becomes imperative to deliver cutting edge products, impeccable service, and strong technical support, for acquiring new customer partners and nurturing long-term relationships with them,” said Kaushik Roy.
PCBL is also moving towards digital transformation and is driving a transition from digitisation to digitalisation across various functions for higher efficiency, optimisation and data monitoring.
Growth against headwinds
PCBL posted a PAT of Rs 444.09 crore during FY 2022-23, up 4 per cent from Rs 427.14 crore during the previous financial year. It registered net sales of Rs 5,873.89 crore, up 32.1 per cent in comparison to Rs 4,446.42 crore during FY 2021-22. The EBITDA stood at Rs 774.84 crore. The company had also declared an interim dividend of Rs 207.60 crore ( Rs 5.50 per equity Share on the face value of Re 1 per equity share) on 31 January, 2023, and paid during the quarter ended 31 March, 2023. During the financial year, PCBL allocated Rs 8.50 crore towards CSR initiatives and impacted over 43,900 lives through its CSR programmes, it said.
“This remarkable progress can be attributed to several key initiatives. Our planned capacity expansions, strong focus on research and development to build a diverse product portfolio and strengthening footprint in the global market have been key catalysts of this performance,” said Sanjiv Goenka. However, he also maintained that the year came with new challenges as the global economy faced several setbacks such as rising inflation, climate challenges, disruptions to the supply chains caused by the war in Ukraine, and the re-emergence of COVID-19 in China. While this slowed down the global economic growth rate, India maintained its position as the fastest growing economy worldwide.
“Critical focus areas of our strategy to tackle the effects of economic slowdown are optimising operational cost, stricter controls on all capital expenditure, and maintaining efficiency across all functions. Agility in implementing actions aligned with the adopted strategy will be the key to success in the upcoming time,” concluded Sanjiv Goenka.