Aditya Birla Group plans VSF expansion globally

Mumbai, Mar 31 (UNI) The Aditya Birla Group has embarked on an ambitious expansion plan for its Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) business across geographies.

VSF is a core business for the Aditya Birla Group. After a ramp-up of 120 KTPA in the recent past, the present capacity of 566 KTPA represents 23 per cent global market share in this sector, says a company release.

The Aditya Birla Group's VSF manufacturing plants straddle Thailand, Indonesia, India and China. At each of these locations, further capacity expansions are underway, in Thailand by 31 KTPA; in Indonesia by 37 KTPA, in India by 64 KTPA and in China by 30 KTPA. These brownfield expansions, slated to be completed by second quarter of 2008, will further notch up the Group's VSF production from 566 KTPA to 727 KTPA and entail an investment close to USD 260 million.

Says Shailendra K Jain, the director responsible for the Global Pulp and Fibre business, ''Our growth, going forward, will be through all options''. Over the years we have been moving away from being a pure commodity player to a value-added player for the niche segments of the market.

In addition to spun dyed fibers, we have significantly enhanced our Speciality Fibre portfolio covering all generations of man made Cellulosic fibers. Our intent is to be an equally significant producer of fibres for non-woven applications. These brownfield expansions in Thailand, Indonesia, China and India have been engineered for the production of speciality fibres for the higher end of the market and also for the production of fibres for fast growing non-wovens segment, he added.

While the brownfield expansions are intended to meet the growing demand of VSF in emerging textiles hubs of Asia, the Group has also initiated steps for setting up of a 90 KTPA greenfield capacity in Mediterranean region that offers significant cost and logistics advantages to the Group's existing VSF operations. ''This new facility with a focus on high-end products will enlarge our global footprint and help meet the requirements of customers in emerging textile hubs of the Middle East, Mediterranean region and Latin American countries in a cost effective way'', Mr Jain said.

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