Taiwanese synthetic rubber makers said yesterday that they are setting up plants in India, eyeing the region’s strong growth in rubber consumption.
Taiwanese synthetic rubber maker TSRC Corp (台橡) said it is setting up a unit to manufacture synthetic rubber for tires in a joint venture with the state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Japan’s Marubeni Corp.
According to an agreement signed between the three companies, TSRC will hold 30 percent of the equity, with IOC holding 50 percent and Marubeni taking 20 percent.
The venture company aims to increase the plant’s capacity to 200,000 tonnes per year to meet future demand, with annual revenue of US$200 million.
Also expanding its market in India is China Synthetic Rubber Corp (CSRC, 中國合成橡膠), which has raised its stake in Continental Carbon India Ltd (CCIL) to 89.59 percent.
CSRC spokesman Liu Tsu-ti (劉祖棣) said CCIL’s Indian plant -currently has an annual capacity of 65,000 tonnes, which accounts for 10 percent of the rubber market in India and has a profit margin of 15 percent.
The company is currently expanding capacity at the plant and is aiming to manufacture 205,000 tonnes of rubber a year to meet not only domestic demand, but also the needs of the Southeast Asian market, Liu said.
Meanwhile, Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co (正新橡膠) said it is supplying four-wheel drive tires to India’s Mahindra & Mahindra, the sub-continent’s largest maker of sport-utility vehicles, and providing tires to Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, India’s largest car maker, thanks to the growing demands of India’s auto industry.
French tire maker Michelin SCA has forecast that India and China will be the fastest growing markets in the global auto industry for the foreseeable future, adding that the two countries are expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 10.7 percent and 13.2 percent respectively from 2007 to 2017.
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