Aditya Birla Group has decided to invest US$500 million to set up a 180 ktpa fully integrated Viscose staple fibre plant with a captive power plant, CS2 plant and sulphuric acid plant, the company release said.
The US$35 billion multinational corporation has planned to set up a viscose staple fibre plant in Turkey’s Adana Organised Industrial Zone.
The group plans to make an investment of US$500 million over the next five years. The viscose staple fibre plant will come up in two phases.
The plant will cater primarily to domestic market and the group will export around 20% of the VSF produced in Turkey to other neighbouring countries and also to European union.
Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla Group said, “In the Viscose Staple Fibre sector, we are reckoned as a marquee Group with over 21% of the global market share. For us in the Aditya Birla Group, VSF is a core business.”
He added, “Our aspiration is to significantly ramp up our global market share and our capacities by the turn of the decade. Establishing a world-class plant in Turkey is a step in this direction.”
Meanwhile, K.K. Maheshwari, the Global Director of the VSF Business, said, “Currently our VSF manufacturing capacity is 750 ktpa. Our ambition is to raise it to 1.1 million tonne by 2015.” Mr. Maheswari also said, “We expect to commission our plant in Turkey by early 2015. This capacity in Turkey will cater primarily to the textile industries here.”
He also said, “At present, 100% of VSF used in the textile and non-woven sectors is imported. Turkey, I believe is the 4th largest consumer of VSF in the world. It is expected to become the 2nd largest consumer over the next 5 years. So setting up the VSF manufacturing facility here makes imminent sense.
The group’s pulp and fibre operations spans countries like Canada, Sweden, Thailand, Indonesia, China and India. The company is working on a 120 ktpa greenfield project at Vilayat in Gujarat and a 36 ktpa Brownfield expansion at Harihar in Karnataka. The group is investing $450 million in these projects.
The Aditya Birla Group operates in 36 countries and is ranked number 4 in the global top companies for leaders and number 1 in Asia in a survey conducted by Aon Hewitt, Fortune Magazine and RBL in 2011. It has a market cap of US $29 billion.
