India Chemicals Blog

The 100-day fever is fast spreading and the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers is the latest casualty. A very bland press release outlining what the ministry plans to achieve over the next three months has come my way.

I started reading the release with a great deal of scepticism and was convinced at the end that my doubts were not misplaced.

So what does the ministry want to achieve? On the fertilisers front, it plans to upgrade the fertiliser monitoring system to ensure timely availability of fertilisers and quick disbursal of subsidy, develop options to revive closed urea units, introduce an attractive investment policy and create a road map for restructuring of sick public sector units through financial restructuring and/or changing feedstock from naphtha to gas.

The PCPIR (Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region Policy) dream is still alive. The aim now is to sign a memorandum of agreement with Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal before 30 August.

Other targets for the department of chemicals include speedy implementation of Gail's cracker project at Assam and to start a plastic waste management centre at Guwahati, Assam and a plastics technology institute at Jaipur

There is nothing really new in what the ministry has planned. Many of these targets should have been achieved in 2008 or even earlier. The prime minister's 100 day reforms mantra is laudable but I think the industry needs something more than just honouring old promises.

I was at a Dow Corning press conference yesterday for the launch of an expanded Xiameter platform in India, another step in its effort to tackle commoditisation of the silicones business.

The no-frills Xiameter, a web-based ordering service, was launched a few years back as customers had become familiar with silicone products and were no longer interested in paying for expensive technical service.

Now as competition for standard grades gets stronger and more speciality grades turn into commodity, the number of products offered via Xiameter is being doubled to 2,100, nearly one third of the company's 7,000-strong product portfolio.

The successful Xiameter business model helps differentiate price-driven customers from innovators, explained Jean Paul Mollie, region president for India, Middle East and South Africa at Dow Corning.

While the Xiameter brand offers standard silicones at market prices, the Dow Corning brand offers speciality products and new applications for customers wanting customized solutions and technical support. Interestingly, nearly 40% of sales of the two brands is now web-based.

The expansion of the Xiameter platform illustrates an ongoing challenge facing speciality chemical companies. As no product remains a speciality forever how should companies handle commodity products without diluting the essence of the specialities business - innovation and service? Should portfolios be continuously reassessed to reduce focus on maturing products? How much time and money should be invested in developing new business models to maintain cost-leadership in commodity grades? How can commodity markets be serviced most efficiently? Is Internet the answer?

Mollie declined to estimate the size of the Indian market for silicones and would only say that the country was seeing strong double-digit growth. Dow Corning will be focusing on opportunities in the transportation, construction, solar energy and life science sectors in the country.

Dow Corning has a strong focus on solar power globally and has plans to expand capacity by 90% within the next four years. A new solar solutions application centre is being set up in South Korea to cater to the Asian market.

Anti-dumping duty (ADD) on polypropylene (PP) imports from Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Oman has finally been announced. And the high level of duties, which are company specific and range from $44.40/tonne to $1,033.65/tonne, has upset many processors and importers.

I have been told that one of the reasons for imposing a stiff penalty is because different invoices that were raised for imports from 1 April to 31 December 2008, the period under investigation. PP prices had fallen heavily during most of this period and sellers had offered price protection to push material out of their warehouses. It appears that in many cases a cargo was booked at one price, loaded at another price and delivered at a third price.

I also hear that the highest duty was imposed on producers who did not cooperate in the investigations.

It will take six more months for the investigation to be concluded but I don't think there are many who expect the ADD to be scaled back.

And we could be seeing more action in this space. I hear that imports from three more countries are being closely scrutinised. As I said on Monday, the government is receptive to complaints about dumping and producers are likely to take full benefit of this.

Jubilant Organosys appears to be taking one more step in transforming itself into a pharmaceutical company. The company is looking at selling its industrial and performance products division and expects to realise Rs3.0-3.5bn from the sale, says this report in today's Economic Times. There was no official confirmation on this from the company.

The division, with sales of around Rs12bn, includes acetyls, PVA, adhesives, animal nutrition, fertilisers and agrochemicals. Jubilant has been steadily expanding its presence in the fast growing pharmaceuticals and custom research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) space over the last few years through mergers and acquisitions.

Selling the 'non core' business makes sense and the news was welcomed by the stock market. But will Jubilant be able to find a single buyer for the diverse products that make up the industrial and performance products division?

I have been hearing that the Indian government will soon announce preliminary antidumping duty (ADD) on polypropylene (PP) imports from Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Oman. A few lucky producers/exporters have escaped but there are many who face a stiff duty of as much as a few hundred dollars, say my friends from the industry.

Polymer processors and producers from the affected countries had strongly protested against the investigation, which was launched in early March. But it looks like the government has been sympathetic to the producers' case.

The ADD on PP, when announced, will be added to a long list of chemicals that has attracted protection in the form of ADD or safeguard duty in the last few months. I have been told that while the government is unwilling to listen to requests for upward revision of import duty, it willing to act fast if producers can produce evidence that cheap imports have hurt their business. And that's keeping many producers busy these days. So don't be surprised if you hear investigations being launched on many more chemicals.

It appears cheap imports are hurting Indian industry across all sectors. A recent survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) shows that small and medium sized companies are most worried about Chinese imports which are 10-70% cheaper.

"Trade and industry have reported that with western markets losing their appetite for imports, Chinese manufacturers are increasingly looking at alternative markets to offload their wares. India is an obvious first choice in such a scenario given its geographical proximity and the fact that it is still growing at an appreciable 6.5-7.0%," says FICCI.

Indian companies have expressed concerns on quality and safety of Chinese imports. "Immediate imposition of severe testing requirements on imports from China is a must as these include basic items of consumption and even vaccines," adds FICCI.

India's synthetic fibre and fibre intermediate produces will be happy to know that the textile industry is likely to soon receive a number of incentives from the government. A stimulus package, due to be announced next month, would include subsidies on interest and additional funds for technology upgradation, says this report.

This is needed as other incentives announced by the government earlier this year have failed to revive the industry, says the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry

Textile exports have been declining since September 2008 and industry players have complained that the Indian government has not matched efforts put in by governments in China, Pakistan and Bangladesh to support local producers.

India's textile exports in fiscal 2009 were estimated to be around $22bn, a long way from the government target of $110bn in fiscal 2012.

The new textile minister appreciates the huge task facing the industry. He said recently that the industry needed an annual investment of Rs300bn to maintain growth momentum. He has promised a helping hand from the government - something that the industry has been seeking for a very long time.

Indian information technology (IT) companies may no longer be queuing up at campuses for fresh graduates but engineering students continue to rank this sector above all others, according to the latest Nielsen Campus Track T-Schools study.

Chemicals, not surprisingly, does not figure on the list although oil and gas was seen as the 'industry of the future'. Other promising sectors, as identified by students, were nanotechnology, power, telecom and IT services.

The survey also showed that half of the 2010 graduates planned to move out of their first job in three years or less, with 51% citing higher studies as a reason for leaving. Better career opportunities, better salary, better designation, and job satisfaction are some other reasons for moving out.

But students are willing to stay back if the employer pays them well (39%), if they are satisfied with their job (34%), if their job provides a good work environment (32%), and if the employer is willing to sponsor their higher education (31%).

And what do graduates want from their first job?

"The soon-to-be engineers want to work for a technically sound company when they pass out, ranking it the highest on the list of drivers that influence choice of an employer. They want to work on sophisticated and state of the art technology, where there is good learning on the job and want to work in a growing industry, where they get 'hands on' exposure to projects," says The Nielsen Company.

Indian chemical companies should be able to offer this but can they match salaries offered by IT companies?

Trevira was Reliance's first global acquisition and was expected to be the start of a wider programme to extend Reliance's global reach through mergers and acquisitions.

But just five years later Trevira is once again on the block after filing for insolvency with a German court. Reliance has pumped in Euro55m to clear outstanding bank liabilities but it is clear that it will distance itself from Trevira.

Trevira has blamed the economic crisis for its problems. The textile and auto industries, two key end-use segments, have been hit hard by the crisis resulting in falling orders amid growing competition from Asia and Eastern Europe.

Trevira's new managing director, an insolvency expert, has said that Reliance does not plan to be "engaged with" Trevira any longer. It would eventually be sold to a suitable investor who could offer a long-term future.

She has also said that Trevira has good products and is 'basically competitive'.

But if that's the case why does Reliance, the largest integrated polyester producer in the world, want to exit from Trevira? Surely Reliance with its deep pockets can afford to ride through the crisis.

If Reliance with its strong management capabilities has failed to make Trevira work other companies are likely to struggle. I suspect it will be tough for Reliance to find a buyer willing to pay a high enough price for this business in the current economic climate.

If it is any consolation, Indian companies are not the only ones frustrated by Reach, the new regulation relating to registration and sale of chemicals in the EU.

The mood at the European Chemicals Agency's (ECHA) Second Stakeholder Day in Helsinki was one of 'frustration' and 'anger', writes my colleague Will Beacham. Chemical industry executives bombarded ECHA representatives with questions related to data submission that has to be completed by 2010.

"Perhaps the biggest cause of anger and frustration is the inaccessibility of the ECHA. People with queries have no option but to e-mail a helpdesk at the ECHA. Many delegates said answers take weeks to arrive and often just refer questioners back to existing guidance which they are already aware of," he writes.

The other bit frustration relates to problems in forming and operating Substance Information and Exchange Forums (SIEFs), groups of producers of the same chemical.

The ECHA appears to be listening and has said it will provide extra support to the industry. However, it is unwilling to relax its December 2010 deadline for submission of dossiers and has instead come up with a new awareness campaign to spur companies to act. The campaign's new motto is "The clock is ticking. Form your SIEF now.'

Becoming Reach ready is a frustrating and costly exercise both in terms of time and money. I hear that some Indian companies have already done their calculations and decided that the European market is not worth this investment.

But as producers drop out of the registration race, supply in Europe should tighten resulting in higher prices and profits for those that are investing today in overcoming the Reach barrier. A little foresight will not be wasted.

ONGC has taken a difficult but sensible decision. It has finally shelved plans for a new 15m tonnes/year refinery and petrochemical complex at Mangalore. The project had been facing considerable resistance from the local population. In addition, questions were being raised on the viability of the project.

The sharp change in the global business environment since last year probably forced ONGC to reconsider the project. But the decision also suggests that the company may no longer be keen to extend its focus beyond oil exploration and production. Mangalore is the second refinery project that ONGC has shelved. In June 2008, the company had said that it would not participate in a refinery project at Kakinada on the east coast of India.