EPCA '07: India's Finolex to double pipes capacity

02 October 2007 09:39  [Source: ICIS news]

BERLIN (ICIS news)--India's second largest polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer Finolex Industries plans to double its PVC pipes capacity to 200,000 tonnes/year by 2010, a senior company official said on Tuesday.

"The pipes segment accounts for 70% of total PVC consumption in India, which is expected to show strong growth in the coming years," said Finolex deputy managing director Saurabh Dhanorkar on the sidelines of the European Petrochemical Association conference.

The expansion would be carried out in phases over the next three years, Dhanorkar said.

Finolex currently operates a 100,000 tonne/year PVC pipes plant at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra in western India. By the end of 2007, the company plans to debottleneck the plant by 30,000 tonnes/year to 130,000 tonnes/year.

"As part of the expansion, we are also looking to build a new pipes facility in northern India to cater to the growing demand there," said Dhanorkar.

PVC feedstock for the expansion would be provided by Finolex's 260,000 tonne/year PVC plant at Ratnagiri.

"We think downstream integration gives us a strong competitive advantage," said Dhanorkar.

Reliance Industries, India's largest PVC producer, has no downstream capacity and sells all of its PVC in the domestic market.

By: Prema Viswanathan
+65 6780 4359

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