Divisions

chlor-alkalis | epoxy | fluorine chemicals | peroxides | phosphates | sulphites

The Aditya Birla chemicals business in Thailand operates under the companies Aditya Birla Chemicals (Thailand) Ltd and Thai Peroxide Company Ltd. In India, it operates under four separate companies — Aditya Birla Nuvo, Grasim, Aditya Birla Chemicals (India) (formerly known as Bihar Caustic and Chemicals Limited) and Tanfac.

There are six major product segments — chlor-alkalis, epoxy, fluorine chemicals, peroxides, phosphates and sulphites.

Excellent product quality has enabled the unit to capture a
sizeable share of the market in Thailand in chlor-alkali products,
with most of the country’s leading multinational consumers as
its customers. The unit has extended its reach to South East Asia
and has been exporting chlorine regularly.

Epichlorohydrin manufactured by the unit is largely supplied
to its epoxy division for the manufacture of epoxy resins. The
unit has also developed an international market for the sale of
allylchloride in India and epichlorohydrin to the US, Europe,
Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand.

The unit has ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OSHAS 18001, and TIS 18001 certifications.

Grasim Industries' chlor-alkali plant is located at Nagda, in Madhya Pradesh, India. Its capacity is 258,000tpa, including an 60,500tpa flake plant, making it India's second-largest caustic soda unit.

Aditya Birla Chemicals (India), (formerly known as Bihar Caustic and Chemicals) is one of the leading chlor-alkali companies in Eastern India. Commissioned in 1984 with an initial caustic soda capacity of 33,000tpa, the company has since grown to become the leading caustic soda producer in the eastern region of India.

The company had commissioned a 30mw captive power plant
in the year 2000 and simultaneously, the caustic plant capacity
was enhanced to 51,048tpa. In the year 2006, the capacity
was increased to 78,750tpa by converting the mercury cell
technology to the more environment-friendly membrane cell
technology supplied by world-renowned technology supplier
M/s. UHDENORA, Germany. Presently, the installed capacity
stands at 105,000tpa.

For value addition and effective utilisation of chlorine, the
company has commissioned a 12,000tpa aluminium chloride
plant in the year 2007 and a 17,500tpa stable bleaching powder (SBP) plant in 2008. SBP is marketed under the brand name Shaktiman.

Aditya Birla Chemicals (India) is a member of several chemicals manufacturers' associations including Alkali Manufacturers Association of India (AMAI), Indian Chemical Council (ICC) and American Chemistry Council.

The chlor-alkali plant of Aditya Birla Nuvo is located at Veraval, in Gujarat, India. It has a capacity of 91,250tpa of caustic soda.

The chlor-alkali business has won numerous awards and recognition. Know more >>

The modern ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified plant uses state-of-the-art technology from Tohto Kasei, the largest epoxy producer in Japan. Sophisticated machinery, distributed control systems and a fully equipped quality assurance laboratory enable the unit to
produce consistently high quality epoxy resins. The unit was
awarded the TPM Excellence (first category) by Japan Institute
of Plant Maintenance (JIPM), Japan in 2004.

The epoxy division has grown from 10,000tpa to 80,000mt over a period of 17 years. In 2004, it installed dedicated production facilities for speciality epoxies, reactive diluents and hardeners with a capacity of 5,000tpa. During 2007, the epoxy division implemented de-bottlenecking of its existing production lines and set up dedicated facilities to produce waterborne epoxies, radiation cure epoxies, diluents, hardeners and bis-f and novolac pre-cursers and epoxies. In July 2008, the division commissioned a high performance epoxy adhesive system plant with state-of-the-art facilities to serve the growing needs of the wind energy industry. These plants have taken the total capacity of the division to over 80,000tpa.

The division has also set up a 9,000 sq ft R&D and application centre for accelerating product development, application testing and providing more technical services to customers.

With a vision “to become the preferred source of performance
epoxy products and solution provider for global composites and
coating industry”, the epoxy division, with its modern R&D and
application centre facilities, has moved from being a product
supplier to a solutions provider, working closely with
customers to provide superior value through customised
products, specialty formulations and systems.

The division produces a wide range of epoxies, hardeners and
modifiers that vary in the chemical structure, molecular weight,
viscosity and functionality. Marketed under the brand name
EPOTEC, its product range includes liquid, solid, solutions,
blends and other multifunctional epoxy resins. These products
are used across a wide array of applications such as automotive,
construction and heavy engineering, transport, electrical and
electronics, food and beverage packing, coatings, composites,
adhesives, aviation and aerospace, wind energy, etc.

Exporting over 80 per cent of its output, its products reach out
to over 40 countries worldwide, with a major share going to the
quality conscious markets in the US and Europe.

The epoxy division has won numerous awards and recognition. Know more >>

Incorporated in 1972, it is one of India’s largest suppliers of
fluorine chemicals with the facility spread over 60 acres in the
chemical complex of SIPCOT at Cuddalore, 180 km south of
Chennai.

Tanfac manufactures chemicals such as aluminium fluoride,
anhydrous hydrogen fluoride with a generation capacity of
15,600tpa each. In addition to this, Tanfac manufactures
sulphuric acid to the tune of 81,600tpa inclusive of 14,400tpa of oleum, and speciality fluorides to the tune of 3,400tpa. The fluorine-based chemicals have vital applications in
industries such as aluminium smelting, petroleum refining,
refrigerant gases, steel re-rolling, glass, ceramics, sugar,
fertilisers, heavy water, etc. The speciality chemicals are used
as intermediates in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals drugs
and agrochemicals.

Having started as a single product company, producing
aluminium fluoride, Tanfac has now diversified into various
speciality fluoride products, with exports to locations across the globe including the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and the Middle East.

The unit derives its competitive edge through world-class
technology tie-ups with global majors for the manufacture of
aluminium fluoride viz., Davy Process Technology (Switzerland)
and CHENCO (Germany).

Tanfac is committed to the improvement of management system processes affecting quality, cost, delivery and the environment to prevent pollution and to comply with requirements of customers and interested parties, and the public.

Tanfac on a continuous basis identifies activities which have
scope for conserving energy, water reduction of chemicals
consumption, recycle of water and recycle of waste in
process, as part of its commitment to Safety, Health and
Environment (SHE).

Tanfac has won numerous awards and recognition. Know more >>

Thai Peroxide Company Limited (TPL) is a joint venture company
between the Aditya Birla Group and FMC Corporation, US. A
pioneer in the manufacture of hydrogen peroxide solutions in
Thailand, TPL began operations in 1989. Its present capacity
78 stands at 19,000mtpa and it is one of the best-benchmarked
companies among FMC plants.

Located at Saraburi, TPL manufactures hydrogen peroxide
of standard grades in 35 per cent and 50 per cent concentrations, food grade in 35 per cent concentration and also very high purity electronic grades. Products for environment and aqua-culture applications are sold under the brand names ECARE and ENCARE.

Hydrogen peroxide is an environment-friendly chemical that
decomposes into water and oxygen after use, leaving no residue. It is extensively utilised in textiles, pulp, paper and leather industries for its oxidising and bleaching properties. It is also used in the food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries, and for treating industrial and municipal wastewater for reducing COD, BOD, odour and heavy metals.

Value-added speciality products such as peracetic acid, percitric acid and calcium peroxide are also manufactured to serve the disinfection market and for soil remediation respectively.

TPL exports its technologically advanced and environment-friendly products to middle-east and south-east Asian countries, which include Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Laos, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

TPL is certified for quality, environment, health and safety with ISO
9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, Thai FDA, Kosher, GMP for hazardous substances and Halal.

Thai Peroxide has won numerous awards and recognition. Know more >>

Phosphates
The phosphate division is currently the world’s leading
manufacturer of high quality food-grade sodium and potassium
phosphates. Commissioned in 1984 to produce POLYPHOS
(sodium tripolyphosphate), it has over the years, enhanced
capacity to 85,000tpa through de-bottlenecking by more
than 100 per cent and earned a reputation as one of the most efficient and reliable suppliers of high quality speciality phosphates.

Phosphates are mainly being used as meat and seafood
preservatives, leavening in bakery products, emulsifiers
and stabilisers in dairy products and builders in detergents.
Phosphates are also used in the manufacture of animal feeds,
toothpaste, textile dyes, starches and ceramic tiles, as well as
in water and metal treatment, and as stabilisers in chemical
processes. Blended phosphates such as MP-seaphos and non-
phosphate such as NP-seapure provide superior yield, texture
and colour during the processing of raw and cooked shrimps,
fish and squids. The blended phosphates are marketed under
the brand names of PEARL, GUSTO and CORINO.

Current exports account for 60 per cent of production to more
than 40 countries including Japan, Australia, New Zealand,
Indonesia, Spain and the US, and other countries in the South East Asian region.

The phosphates division was the first manufacturer of sodium
phosphates in the Asia-Pacific to be ISO 9000 certified for its
quality management systems, and the first sodium phosphate
manufacturer in the world to be accredited with ISO 14001.

The division’s enviable record of manufacturing excellence
and quality management remains unmatched in the South
East Asian region.

Future plans include additional investments and capacity
expansions for food grade blends and an R&D facility. A backward
integration project for manufacturing food grade phosphoric
acid in China has been expanded to produce 55,000mtpa of
high quality food grade phosphoric acid.

The phosphates division has won numerous awards and recognition. Know more >>

Set up in 1995, the state-of-the-art manufacturing plant is located in Saraburi Province. The sulphites division manufactures sodium sulphite, sodium metabisulphite, sodium bisulphites solution and catalysed sodium sulphite. With an annual capacity of 80,000mt, it is among the world’s top high-quality producers of these chemicals.

The company’s products are marketed under the brand names
Birlasulf® SS and Birlasurf® SM and are used primarily
in the photographic, food, water treatment, pulp and paper, leather,
textiles, acrylic fibre, mining, chemical and pharmaceutical
industries.

The sulphites division has also developed value-added liquid
sodium bisulphite that is marketed under the brand name
Birlasol® 35 in the domestic starch pulp and paper, and
mining industries.

It has earned the reputation of being the 'preferred supplier' for
many global customers, with its products being exported across
44 countries.

The division has won numerous awards and recognition. Know more >>