/ 19 April 2013

Cleaning up SA’s chemicals

Cleaning Up Sa's Chemicals

The MS Jain Group was established in southern India in 1979 with the setting up of a sodium silicate (a key ingredient for making detergents) manufacturing unit in Chennai.

Currently, the group produces in excess of three million tonnes of sodium silicate in India through its network of 32 manufacturing units across the country.

It has since diversified and manufactures an array of products that serve several industries, including textile, paper, construction, welding, ceramics and chemical. The industrial usage in various applications has also widened.

Having established itself in the manufacturing sector, the company moved into trading chemicals in 1995. Originally limiting itself to the import of chemicals for in-house requirements, the company soon seized the opportunities offered by favourable market conditions for imports and trading, especially in the southern part of India.

Today, the group imports and trades almost 20 chemicals and has emerged as a key player in this segment. The group is the largest importer and trader of soda ash in India.

It has also become a turnkey technology services provider to the chemical sector and other process industries that include food, mining, warehousing, logistics and cargo handling.

The group has a dedicated in–house engineering team for fabrication and erection of plants and machineries. It has technically trained personnel to ensure the quality of its products.

MS Jain operates with more than 600 direct and 300 indirect employees. Kiran Global Chems Limited, the flagship company of the group, has an annual turnover of $30-million with 60% of its revenue coming from manufactured goods and the remainder from trade.

Kiran Global Chems Limited adopted a policy of focused territorial marketing, working one territory at a time, at first indigenously and later extending globally. At present, the company is one of the global leaders in manufacturing sodium silicate.

Leveraging on the advantages of port cities, the company has managed to build an extensive logistic network with a chain of warehouses and transportation facilities.

Manufacturing units have been set up in close proximity to end-user facilities in order to make handling safer and easier as well as more economical for buyers. An extensive administrative infrastructure has also been developed to serve the growing business.

In South Africa, the group set up one of the world's largest sodium silicate dissolving facilities in Boksburg through its subsidiary Kiran Global Silica SA in April 2012.

To date, the investment has been approximately $11-million. The chemical manufacturing plant was set up in less than eight months. Raw materials are currently being imported from India and Egypt with trade likely to exceed $12-million this year. The project was funded by the Export Import Bank of India and First National Bank. It is estimated to generate 50 skilled jobs in the area and currently has a staff complement of 30.

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