Juan Rodriguez
Managing director, Alexandria Carbon Black

Alexandria Carbon Black Company SAE, (ACB) an Indo-Egyptian joint venture of the Aditya Birla Group, is the only producer of carbon black in the Middle East and North African region.

A US$ 28 billion conglomerate, the Aditya Birla Group is in the league of Fortune 500. It is anchored by an extraordinary force of 100,000 employees, belonging to 25 different nationalities. The Group has been adjudged the Best Employer in India and among the top 20 in Asia by the Hewitt-Economic Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007. Over 50 per cent of its revenues flow from its overseas operations.

The Group operates in 25 countries – India, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Philippines, Egypt, China, Canada, Australia, USA, UK, Germany, Hungary, Brazil, Italy, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, the Middle East, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Myanmar.

Carbon black is a core business for the Aditya Birla Group. Dr. Rakesh Jain is the global head of the Group's carbon black business. The Group is the world’s fourth largest producer of carbon black with five manufacturing locations — one each in Thailand, Egypt, China and two in India. Birla Carbon is the umbrella name that weaves all these locational companies together under a common highly respected brand. Birla Carbon’s vision is: “To be the most respected, green, global, advanced fillers business with a clear focus on the tyre and mechanical goods segment”.

Established in 1994 with an initial capacity of 20,000 tpa, ACB has since grown 14 times to 285,000 tpa, earning it the accolade of the world's largest carbon black plant at a single location and the fastest-growing carbon black company in the world. ACB also has the distinction of operating the largest production line in the carbon black industry globally.

The company produces various grades of carbon black used mainly in the tyre and rubber industry. About 80 per cent of the world's carbon black production is utilised by the tyre industry. It is also used in the manufacture of inks, dyes, paints, cables and plastics.

After meeting 100 per cent of the Egyptian market needs, ACB exports 95 per cent of its products to over 25 countries including the USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, among others.

ACB’s customer list reads like a veritable who’s who in the tyre industry. Reputed names such as Michelin, Goodyear, Bridgestone/Firestone, Pirelli, Dunlop, Continental General Tyres, MRF among others, apart from the homegrown Alexandria Tire Company and Trenco, are its customers. They have very exacting standards and continuously raise the bar. To meet the customers’ expectations of just-in-time delivery, ACB has established rebulking stations in UK, Belgium and Spain. ACB has developed an IT based multi-nodal supply chain delivering carbon black from Alexandria to customers’ manufacturing locations in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.

In less than 15 years of its going on stream, ACB has made a mark in Egypt and the world over. A bellwether, ACB has set new standards in Egypt, Middle East and North Africa. The first carbon black company to be ISO 14001 environment certified, QS-9000 quality certified, OHSAS 18001 certified for its occupational health and safety standards and SA 8000 accredited for social accountability, ACB has bagged the TPM excellence award and the special award for TPM achievement from JIPM, Japan.

In line with the Group’s policy of sustainable development, ACB has the distinction of being among the pioneers in the carbon black industry. It has ushered in a string of innovations. ACB is one of the few companies whose methodology, under the clean development mechanism has been approved by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This is a unique achievement.

ACB also enjoys the rare distinction of being the first ever company in Egypt to sell surplus electricity to the national grid. Environmentally conscious, ACB burns the waste gases and instead of letting them into the atmosphere, it converts into steam and electricity which is used for captive consumption and the remainder sold to the grid.

The company has the added distinction of being ISO-TS 16949 certified. It has been a recipient of the International Safety Award by the British Safety Council for nine successive years. It was ranked among the world's five best environment-friendly companies by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), from among the companies financed by the IFC.

Transcending business, ACB reaches out to the Egyptian society in myriad ways. Apart from providing significant employment opportunities directly and indirectly and generating vendors for its products and services, ACB stands out as a caring corporate citizen. The company supports orphanages, educational institutions and health care facilities for the communities in proximity to its plant.

Egypt has been home to ACB. And so well regarded is ACB in Egypt that the government uses it as a show-case plant. Most importantly, the Egyptian government has partnered ACB, enabling the company to maintain its aggressive growth.