India’s Coromandel to expand phosphoric, sulphuric acid production

MUMBAI (ICIS)–India’s Coromandel International Ltd (CIL) plans to increase the phosphoric acid and sulphuric acid capacities at its Kakinada complex in the southeastern Andhra Pradesh state at a cost of rupees (Rs) 10.3bn ($124m).

The company plans to increase its phosphoric acid capacity by 48% to 2,300 tonnes/day and its sulphuric acid capacity by 43% to 6,000 tonnes/day, it said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange on 30 January.

Coromandel expects to complete this expansion project within 24 months and will finance the project through internal accruals and loans, it added.

Separately. Coromandel’s fertilizers facility at Ennore in the southern Tamil Nadu state remained shut following an ammonia leak in December 2023, a company source said on Tuesday.

The gas leak from the company’s ammonia unloading subsea pipeline on 26 December led to the hospitalisation of 52 people from nearby villages.

A technical committee constituted by the Tamil Nadu state government has ascertained that the ammonia pipeline may have been damaged due to a significant relocation of heavy granite boulders when Cyclone Michaung hit the Tamil Nadu coast on 3 December.

In its report on 5 February 2024, the committee has asked Coromandel to replace the offshore pipelines and install state-of-the-art monitoring, automatic control and accident prevention systems.

The company will also have to pay an environmental compensation of Rs59.2m to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB).

“Following the unfortunate incident of ammonia gas leakage at the Ennore fertiliser facility, the company has taken necessary measures to ensure safety of people in and around the complex. Currently the plant is closed and the company is in the process of addressing the matter,” the company official said.

Coromandel operates 16 manufacturing facilities with a total capacity of 4.5m tonnes/year of fertilisers, according to its website.

($1= Rs83.05)