Birla Carbon PRC

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Birla Carbon, part of Aditya Birla Group (“ABG”) is one of the largest producers of carbon black globally with 17 plants. With the goal of continuing to grow its business, Birla Carbon proposes to establish a greenfield carbon black production plant, Columbian Chemicals (Jining), 5 km to the north of Jining City, Shandong province, China. The plant will be constructed in two phases i.e., Phase I with a capacity of 120,000 ton per year expected to become operational by end of 2016, and Phase II with an incremental capacity of 120,000 tons expected to come into operation 2-3 years after completion of Phase I. The plant will adopt established technology from Columbian Chemicals (USA), which is also a subsidiary of Birla Carbon. Columbian Chemicals (Jining) will be built within an existing chemical industrial park in Jining, adjacent to an existing plant of the Jining Carbon Group which will supply most of the raw materials for Columbian Chemicals (Jining). The production process involves the controlled oxidation of creosote oil and other heavy oils. In this instance, the tail gas from the oxidation process which consists of carbon monoxide and hydrogen will be used for co-generation to produce steam and generate electricity. Preliminary engineering design for the project is complete and the engineering/procurement/construction (EPC) model will be adopted for the project. The shortlisting of EPC contractors has been completed with the associated companies being major contractors in the chemical industry; the final EPC contractor will be selected in early 2015. The industrial park was initially established in early 2002 and expansion of the park is underway which includes the Birla Carbon project. The 15-ha project site is surrounded by other chemical plants and farmlands and the nearest villages are around 800-1000 meters from the proposed manufacturing processes.The project involves IFC’s investment of both debt and equity in Columbian Chemicals (Jining) for Phase I.