Tyre maker Balkrishna Industries is scouting other markets to import chemicals and raw material, as it seeks to reduce its dependency on China.
Balkrishna Industries (BKT) manufactures agricultural, off-road and all terrain vehicle tyres for exports and domestic market.
Its manufacturing facilities are located at Bhiwadi and Chopanki (Rajasthan), Waluj, Aurangabad (Maharashtra) and Bhuj (Gujarat). As much as 80 percent of its sales come from overseas markets.
The company sources carbon black, key input material from its own plants. BKT is the only tyre maker in the country which has its own carbon black plant at Bhuj, with its total current capacity at 1,40,000 tpa.
Phase-II of the project with a capacity of 80,000 tpa was commissioned on 12 March 2020. Besides meeting its own requirement, BKT sells carbon black to the market also.
The company is expecting pick-up in industrial construction and mining, a sector which the government is pushing to open up.
The company expects to spend Rs 600 crore in FY21, largely towards its ongoing capex programme as well as routine maintenance capex as against Rs 761 crore incurred in FY20. The total production during FY20 stood at 1,94,000 tpa.
Europe and the US are its biggest exports market, with around 51 percent and 17 percent sales volume coming from these two markets.