Ineos to increase ABS capacity in India

Styrenics maker Ineos Styrolution plans to increase its compounding capacity for engineering plastics by an additional 34,000 tonnes/year at its Moxi plant located in Gujarat, India. Expected for completion in 2019, this expansion will grow Ineos Styrolution’s compounding capacity to 100,000 tonnes/year at the site. This expansion will involve a capital expenditure of US$20 million, which also includes the upgrading of site infrastructure. Additionally the company has sanctioned a detailed engineering study to evaluate doubling the overall production capacity for ABS in India over the next years.

The planned capacity expansion intends to meet the growing demand for styrenic polymers across key growth industries in India, enabling the company to support our customers’ growth plans and continuing to provide the same high quality products.

The Moxi plant currently manufactures and supplies acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA) for the Indian market. As part of the expansion, two new extruders will be installed at Moxi, in addition to various infrastructure upgrades to support the additional site capacity.

Sanjiv Vasudeva, Managing Director, Ineos Styrolution India Limited, says: “This expansion follows our earlier R&D facility upgrading investment in Moxi. It will enable us to better support the success of our customers in India by providing them the best solutions and a stable local supply, therefore paving the way for further growth together.”

These planned investments underline the company’s commitment to its Triple Shift growth strategy with emphasis on focus industries, ABS and Specialties and on growth markets.

“India is one of the key strategic markets in Asia where Ineos Styrolution plans to accelerate growth and expand our manufacturing footprint over the next years. The intended doubling of our production capacity in India is being substantiated with a major engineering study and will ultimately give us additional resources to meet the demands of a fast growing Indian market, further enhancing our position as the market leader for ABS and SAN (styrene acrylonitrile) in India”, comments Steve Harrington, President Global Styrene Monomer and Asia-Pacific.

“This investment follows previous growth investments including the acquisition of the global K-Resin business and, most recently, the planned ABS and ASA capacity increase in the Americas,” says Kevin McQuade, CEO Ineos Styrolution. ”Our investments very much reflect our focus on the overall global market potential for styrenics as well as supporting higher growth regional markets.”

The company provides styrenic applications for many everyday products across a broad range of industries, including Automotive, Electronics, Household, Construction, Healthcare, Packaging and Toys/ Sports/ Leisure. In 2016, the global firm’s sales were EUR4.5 billion and it employs approximately 3,200 people and operates 16 production sites in nine countries.