New Delhi, July 16: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) expects to increase revenues by over Rs 50 crore per annum with its new mixed xylene plant, which is scheduled to go on stream in September.
MRPL associate president S.C. Tandon told The Telegraph, Japan’s Mitsubishi and Mitsui, Korean ESK and Petronas of Malaysia are keen to pick up the product.
“These companies are already in touch with us as there is a shortage of the product in the market,” he said.
Tandon said the new plant would produce 22,000 tonnes of mixed xylene every month, using naphtha as a feedstock. At present, MRPL is exporting this naphtha at a price of around $600 per tonne. The mixed xylene is expected to sell at $1,050 per tonne. The profit of the company would, therefore, go up from the third quarter, once the plant is commissioned.
MRPL has invested Rs 64 crore in the mixed xylene plant and construction work is reported to be progressing on schedule.
Mixed xylene is an intermediate petrochemical which the Japanese and Korean companies had been sourcing from the US. However, there has been a shortfall in the supply of the product and these companies are desperately looking for alternative sources, Tandon said.
MRPL had clocked a net profit of Rs 372 crore during the financial year ended March 31, 2006, down 58 per cent from the previous year’s Rs 880 crore.
The net profit of the company had declined as the downstream oil marketing companies ? Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum ? had frozen the prices of LPG, kerosene, petrol and diesel that they had bought from MRPL.
The government feels that being a public sector company, MRPL should also bear a part of the subsidy burden on petroleum products that other downstream oil companies shoulder.
MRPL, which is an ONGC subsidiary, will be spearheading the upstream oil company’s foray into the downstream petrochemicals segment. The MRPL-ONGC combine is the “anchor tenant” for the Mangalore special economic zone.
A capital expenditure of Rs 8,000 crore has been approved by MRPL and ONGC boards for the integrated refinery upgradation project.
