Black carbon market grows

JAKARTA (CNI): Indonesia's sole black carbon producer, Cabot Indonesia, believes a 5-10 percent growth in the local market is still possible, although there prevails an overall surplus in Asia, especially in South Korea, Thailand and India.

President of Cabot Indonesia Nicholas P Ballas, said on Monday that he expects regional demand and capacity to be balanced by 2004.

Indonesian demand for carbon black is estimated at around 110 000 ton/year.

Cabot Indonesia is a joint venture between US-based Cabot Corp and Malaysian investment trust Permodalan Nasional Berhad, with the former holding 86 percent of the stake. It is also a majority shareholder in Karbon Indonesia, which is a joint venture with Indonesian Taspen.