Cheap Chinese PTA imports are causing headaches for the Mitsubishi group (MGC, Tokyo / Japan; www.mgc.co.jp/eng) not only in Japan – see Plasteurope.com of 17.10.2014. In India, too, it is facing “mounting losses,” Debi Prasad Patra, executive chairman of Indian subsidiary Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (PTA) India (Kalkutta / Indien; www.mcpi.co.in) told local media. The group has reported to the country’s Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction that it is facing “an existential crisis” and its net worth has “eroded completely.” As a consequence, Mitsubishi has petitioned the Indian government to increase anti-dumping duties against China.

When starting commercial production in India in 2000, the Japanese producer’s aim was to gain market share in the ASEAN countries by producing a higher quality product, Patra said. As the Chinese product was cheaper, though, the group actually lost market share in ASEAN and decided to concentrate on the Indian market instead. Against initial expectations, the near doubling of output in 2010 from 470,000 t/y to 800,000 t/y did not pay off. “By 2012,” the executive said, “we were forced to sell products at below market price.” This led to an extremely high share of input costs in terms of volume.

Making matters worse for Mitsubishi was a “steep increase” in operating costs due to higher raw materials prices. Along with the rise in market price of feedstocks paraxylene and acetic acid also rose, not having a dedicated jetty at India’s Haldia port added to logistics costs. To save money on fuel, the group has requested and received permission from the Indian government to connect to the power grid – in lieu of continuing to use furnace oil for its generators. It also is in discussions about a permit to build its own jetty.