Tata Refractories to up China capacity by 36,000 tpa

May 1st, 2010
Upbeat about growth prospects, TRL China in a third-stage expansion wants to upscale its magnesite-based refractory unit in Bayuquan in north-east China from the present 54,000 tonne per annum (tpa) to 90,000 tpa.
TRL China is owned 92% by Tata Refractories (TRL) while the balance 8% is in Chinese hands.
"The third phase expansion plan (for upscaling it to 90,000 tpa) has been approved by the TRL China board; we are now going ahead with executing it," said Dr Arup K Chattopadhyay, managing director, TRL.
The expansion, which would cost TRL around Rs 50 crore, would be completed by December 2010. TRL has already invested around Rs 34 crore in the China unit.
As the steel industry around the world is gradually picking up momentum, demand for refractory material, being a consumable, is also picking up.
TRL China with an existing capacity of 54,000 tpa is currently operating its plant at above 90% level.
"TRL China has been a success story; compared to a turnover of Rs 84 crore in 2008-09 its turnover for 2009-10 was Rs 160 crore," said the TRL managing director.
TRL China sells only around 10% of its output locally while the bulk of the refractory material produced there is exported to countries in South-East Asia, Europe and to India.
China being the biggest source of natural magnesite in the world, TRL is exploring possibility of acquiring magnesite mines in that country through a joint venture.
TRL, a Tata Steel associate company, whose Belpahar (Orissa) plant with a capacity of around 2.5 lakh tonne per annum (which can be stretched to produce 2.70 lakh tpa), is among the biggest single location refractory units in the world, is currently also setting up a second refractory hub on 126 acres at Vishakhapatnam (Vizag), which is expected to come up in the next three to four years at an investment of around Rs 80 crore.
"We have now completed (work on) registration of the land and are almost completing the fencing work; maybe we will start work on the project around July (2010)," said Dr Chattopadhyay, adding that among the units to come up at the company's Vizag hub.
This will house a high-alumina refractory unit, a high-tech monolithics plant, a synthetic raw materials plant, a basic products line (chrome magnesite, direct bonded magchrome, etc), an insulating refractory material plant and a state-of-the-art R&D centre.