Thiruvananthapuram, April 8 (Inditop.com) City-based Travancore Titanium Products Ltd (TTPL) has come out of the red and posted a net profit of Rs.21.21 crore in the 2009-10 fiscal, Kerala industries minister Elamaram Kareem said Thursday.
The Kerala government-owned TTPL is a producer of titanium dioxide (anatase grade) which is a vital component for production of all types of white and pastel shades of paints, car tyres, glazed paper, plastics, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and leather products.
Kareem said the total sales of the company had reached Rs.136.60 crore.
“One of the reasons behind this is that sulphur prices in the international market came down to less than Rs.10,000 from Rs.35,000 per tonne,” he told reporters.
“We have been in the red with accumulated losses crossing Rs.33 crore for four years prior to 2009-10. This was just because of the huge price hike in sulphur,” K.S. Sreenivas, TTPL chairman and managing director, told IANS.
The company has increased its capacity over the years and closed the last fiscal with a record turnover of 15,472 tonnes of titanium dioxide. It also produced 64,050 tonnes of sulphuric acid for its own consumption.
“Another reason why we have done exceedingly well is we complained to the anti-dumping court in Delhi that there have been huge imports from China which affected us seriously. They were selling titanium dioxide around Rs.10,000 per tonne, less than our market price. Last June, the court ruled in our favour and decided to hike the import duty on imported products. This helped us hugely,” said Sreenivas.
A tonne of titanium dioxide at present costs around Rs.90,000.
