Corrected: EPCA ’08: Atul aims to be No 3 resorcinol maker

28 September 2008 12:20  [Source: ICIS news]

Correction: In the ICIS news story headlined "EPCA '08: Atul aims to be No 3 resorcinol maker" dated 28 September 2008, please read in the second paragraph ...Indspec... instead of ...Inspect....A corrected story follows.

 

MONTE CARLO (ICIS news)--Atul will lift resorcinol capacity to make it world No 3 in the sector to feed the growing demand for the binder in automobile tyres and other applications, the company said on Sunday.

 

The Indian fine chemicals maker aimed to lift its capacity to 5,000 tonnes/year to take it behind market leaders Sumitomo and Indspec, executive director JL Shah said on the sidelines of the European Petrochemicals Association meeting.

 

The company currently had the capacity to make 1,500 tonnes/year of resorcinol and was debottlenecking its production facility in Atul, about 300 km from Mumbai, to 2,500 tonnes a year, he added.

 

The leap to 5,000 tonnes/year would be made over the next two years, the company said.

 

The $5m debottlenecking was designed to position the company to take advantage of more widespread automobile ownership in India and China, Atul’s president of aromatics, S Hariharan said.

 

The development also offered synergies with the companies other fine chemicals streams, he added.

 

Atul has become a leading producer of p-cresol - cresols are used to dissolve other chemicals, as disinfectants and deodorisers - following the exit from the business of Degussa. It is also a major producer of di amino diphenyl sulphone - the chemical widely used in resin hardener systems.

 

Atul operates complexes in Atul and Ankleshwar in Gujarat state. It produces aromatics, agrochemicals, bulk chemicals and intermediates, dyes, pharmaceuticals and intermediates and polymers.

 

The four-day conference ends on Tuesday.

 

To discuss issues facing the chemicals industry visit ICIS connect

By: Nigel Davis
+44 20 8652 3214

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