A VERSATILE MATERIAL Carbon black is a material used for a wide range of applications from ink production through to tyre production, including the tyres for Formula 1 racing cars. Columbian Tiszai Kft is the major producer of carbon black in Hungary and is a member of the Birla Carbon Group, the world’s largest supplier of carbon black. Edina Beale reports.
IN
1992 Columbian Chemicals Company (CCC) and Tiszai Vegyi Kombinát (TVK) signed a contract to create a joint venture and establish a company to produce carbon black in Tiszaújváros, Hungary. The newly founded plant, Columbian Tiszai Kft, was set to achieve a 50 KT/year capacity. The first production line began operation in December 1993 and six months later, in May 1994, a second production line was implemented. In 2000 TVK sold its 40 per cent share to CCC. The company worked hard to boost output and in 2000, the production capacity increased to 65 KT/year. This capacity, however, was still not enough to meet the market’s growing demand.
Global Business There are two main product types that are produced from carbon black. The largest market segment for carbon black is the tyre industry, and this is followed by the industrial 40 Industry Europe
rubber industry, the automotive industry as well as the plastic industry. Paint and ink producers also use carbon black as a pigment to manufacture ink for printers and photocopy machines. Managing director of the Hungarian factory, László Dobos explains the need for expansion of operations: „The market for using carbon black is global. Despite the fact that our plant is the only carbon black producer in Hungary the competition is very fierce both against the traditional large European companies as well as the Chinese and Russian imports. Continuous development and learning, and quick response to changes are necessary to maintain competitiveness.” An example of this quick response was in 2006 when a strategic decision was made to enlarge the factory’s capacity. This was achieved in 2008 and enabled Columbian Tiszai to manufacture 113.5 KT carbon black in a year whilst operating a Co-gen (Cogeneration) power station to produce electricity.
