|
|
| Where integration is the key |
| Chemplast Sanmar—over forty years old and the flagship company of The Sanmar Group—is a major manufacturer of
PVC resins, chlorochemicals and piping systems. The manufacturing facilities are located at Mettur, Panruti, Cuddalore
and Ponneri in Tamil Nadu, Shinoli in Maharashtra, and Karaikal in the Union Territory of Puducherry. |
| Greenfield project at Cuddalore: The recent commissioning of a greenfield PVC project at Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu,
has been a major step forward for the Group. The facility commissioned in September 2009 has an annual capacity of
170,000 tons, the largest chemical project to come up in the state of Tamil Nadu for well over a decade. Chemplast
Sanmar’s aggregate capacity of 235,000 tons makes it one of the largest PVC players in India. |
At Chemplast, integration—forward and backward—is the key. The basic feedstock for its PVC plant, ethylene and
chlorine, come from its industrial alcohol plant at Panruti and its own chloralkali facilities at Mettur and Karaikal. |
| The Chlorochemicals Division of Chemplast, itself the result of backward integration by the Group, manufactures
a wide range of products using a highly integrated manufacturing process. These downstream products are either
chlorine derivatives or chlorine users in the production process. |
| The salt needed for chlorine manufacture is supplied by salt fields Chemplast owns at Vedaranyam. The power-intensive
electrolysis process of manufacturing chlorine is served by Chemplast’s own power plant. |
| All this makes Chemplast one of the most integrated chemical plants in the country with a closed manufacturing loop. Its product range falls into six distinct Groups — PVC Resins, Caustic Soda/ Chlorine, Chlorinated Solvents, Refrigerant Gases, Silicon Wafers and Trubore Piping Systems. |
| Chemplast has thus played a pioneering role in the field through its ingenious choice of feedstock and manufacturing processes, and efficient, eco-friendly practices. Its constant development of environment-friendly production processes has reduced the consumption of valuable natural resources. |
| PVC |
| The PVC operations of Chemplast began in May 1967 at Mettur, near Salem in Tamil Nadu, with technology from B F Goodrich, USA, to manufacture a variety of high quality PVC Resin products having a wide range of end use applications. |
| Besides speciality Battery Separator Resins and two grades of Copolymer Resins, the company also manufactures 5 grades of Suspension Resins and 3 grades of Paste (dispersion) Resins. |
Chemplast Sanmar pioneered the manufacture of Paste Grade Resins in India. It is also the only manufacturer of Battery Separator Grade Resins (made with technical knowhow from ICI, UK) and Copolymer Suspension Resins in India. |
| Feedstock Management |
| With the intention of achieving self sufficiency in feedstock, the company completed a strategic acquisition in 2003, of a chloralkali plant at Karaikal, and ramped up plant capacity. This plant, acquired in August 2003, has a capacity of 33,000 tpa of caustic soda and 30,000 tpa of chlorine. This is being increased to 50000 tpa of caustic soda and 44000 tpa of chlorine. A downstream EDC plant of 84,000 tpa capacity, which will captively utilise the chlorine from the chloralkali plant , is being put up at Karaikal. This plant facility will include Marine Terminal facilities for the import of liquid ethylene. To derive further cost advantage, the company has gone in for a gas based power plant of 8 MW capacity at this location. |
| Caustic Chlor |
| The first Indian caustic soda plant set up in 1936, this unit has contributed significantly to the development of the caustic soda industry in India . |
 |
Strategic acquisition |
The company has acquired a caustic soda plant at Karaikal, as part of its feedstock management strategy. The capacity of this membrane cell plant has since been significantly enhanced. While the chlorine generated is entirely used for captive consumption, the caustic soda is sold in the open market. To derive further cost advantage, the company has gone in for a gas based power plant of 8 MW capacity at this location. |
| Metkem Silicon |
| Established in 1969 for development of silicon technology as an R&D venture with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Metkem Silicon has been producing hyper pure polysilicon since 1982, with a capacity of 25 tpa. Different types of silicon wafers are on offer and the plant has an annual capacity to produce 1.2 million wafers. Silicon wafers are used in the semiconductor and photovoltaic industries. |
The leading fibre optic cable manufacturers use Metkem’s silicon tetrachloride. |
The manufacturing facility is situated at Mettur, near Salem in Tamil Nadu. |
| Mettron |
This division which commenced operations in October 1988 at Mettur, near Salem in Tamil Nadu, manufactures chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). |
| Solvents |
 |
| The Solvents Division manufactures chloromethanes, chloroethanes and silicon products. The facility is located at Mettur, near Salem in Tamil Nadu. |
Chemplast is the largest manufacturer of chloromethanes in the country. The manufacture of chloromethanes was started in 1967 by The Mettur Chemical and Industrial Corporation Limited (MCIC), which was merged with Chemplast Sanmar Limited in 1988. |
This division exports many products including chloroform, methylene dichloride, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethane and ethyl silicate. |
|
