The $35 billion Aditya Birla Group has unveiled its plans to set up a viscose staple fibre (VSF) plant in Turkeyís Adana Organised Industrial Zone. The worldís No.1 VSF manufacturer, the group proposes to invest $500 million over the next five years to set up a 180 ktpa fully integrated plant with a captive power plant, CS2 plant and a sulphuric acid plant. The VSF plant will come up in two phases.
ìIn the VSF sector, we are reckoned as a marquee group with over 21 per cent of the global market share. For us, VSF is a core business. Our aspiration is to significantly ramp up our global market share and our capacities by the turn of the decade. Establishing a world-class plant in Turkey is a step in this direction,î commented Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group.
Elaborating, Mr. K.K. Maheshwari, Global Director of VSF Business, said: ìCurrently, our VSF manufacturing capacity is 750 ktpa. Our ambition is to raise it to 1.1 million tonnes by 2015. We expect to commission our plant in Turkey by early 2015. This capacity in Turkey will primarily cater to the textile industries here. Currently, 100 per cent of VSF used in the textile and non-woven sectors is imported. Turkey, I believe, is the 4th largest consumer of VSF in the world. It is expected to become the 2nd largest consumer over the next five years. So setting up the VSF manufacturing facility here makes immense sense.
We have been much encouraged by the Governmentís proactive industrial policies and the work ethos.
While the plant will cater primarily to the domestic market, the group will export around 20 per cent of the VSF produced in Turkey to the European Union and other neighbouring countries. ìIt will provide employment to nearly 500 Turkish nationals, besides generating substantial indirect employment through its engagement with the ancillary industriesî, he added.
Aditya Birla Groupís pulp & fibre operations span six countries ñ Canada, Sweden, Thailand, Indonesia, China and India. The group is on an ambitious expansion trajectory and is ramping up capacities in other parts of the world as well. A 120 ktpa greenfield project at Vilayat in Gujarat and a 36 ktpa brownfield expansion project at Harihar in Karnataka are underway at a total investment of $450 million.
The Aditya Birla Group, with a market cap of $29 billion, is in the league of the Fortune 500 companies. It operates in 36 countries across the globe, and is anchored by 133,000 employees belonging to 42 different nationalities. This meritorious group was ranked No.4 in the global ìTop Companies For Leadersî and ranked No.1 in Asia in a survey conducted by Aon Hewitt, Fortune Magazine and RBL, a strategic HR & leadership advisory firm, in 2011.