Pradeep Koneru : in various sectors including minerals and logistics

The Trimex Group, which has interests in various sectors including minerals and logistics, is planning to set up an integrated, multi-mineral facility on the east coast. The group is working on a plan to extract minerals from beach sand and build abilities to produce titanium at a later stage by 2017. Being taken up with an outlay of Rs 4,000 crore, Trimex is taking up the project in four phases and the first phase has already commenced production, though at lower levels. The Andhra Pradesh government has granted approval to the group’s proposal to harvest minerals from the beach sand deposits near Srikurmam, Bhavanapadu and Kalingapatnam coast. “We are starting with five minerals from the sand taken from the beach deposits. All the minerals have demand in the export market and we are trying to build market for some of the minerals even in the domestic market,” Trimex chairman Prasad R Koneru said. The first phase set up with about Rs 250 crore produces 2,00,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) of ilmenite, 6,000 TPA of rutile, 6,000 TPA of zircon, 60,000 TPA of garnet and 50,000 TPA of silimanite.  The products are used in the manufacture of paints, ceramics, abrasives, insulation, cosmetics, paper, leather, glass products, artificial gems, aircraft parts, artificial human joints and filtration media. “The second phase will have facilities to produce titanium dioxide pigments. They find application in paints and allied segments. Apart from that, we are also working on some of the value added products. The second phase would involve an investment of about Rs 1,200-1,500 crore,” he said. In the second phase, the company would expand the capacities for producing the existing minerals while taking up works to produce sillimanite flour, sintered sillimanite grains and other minerals in the fourth phase. The beach sand project involves a process of mining sand from the beach beyond 100 meters of the high tide and then purifying it by using multiple levels of water treatment. After extracting the minerals, depending on their content in the sand, the leftover sand is pumped back into the beach to refill the pits. “The total investment over the next 10 years would be around Rs 4,000 crore and we are looking at a debt-equity of 70:30,” he said.

Pradeep Koneru-Trimex group to invest Rs 1,200 cr in AP

Trimex group, a Dubai-headquartered industrial minerals company, will invest Rs 1,200 crore in the next 24 to 30 months in Andhra Pradesh as part of its Rs 4,000-crore expansion planned for the next eight years. The amount will be spent on a new facility for separating minerals from beach sand, to be located at its 14.5 sq km mine at Bhavanapadu in Srikakulam district.

Trimex group chairman Prasad Koneru said here on Friday that the group’s first integrated mineral extraction facility, the Srikurmam Mineral Sands Project at Srikurmam in the same district, is to be inaugurated by chief minister K Rosaiah on June 26.

The Rs 250-crore plant will extract, process and produce 200,000 tonne per annum (tpa) of ilmenite, 6,000 tpa of rutile and zircon, 60,000 tpa of garnet and 50,000 tpa of sillimanite. The company also holds a mining licence at Kalingapatnam, part of the same geological Srikakulam placer deposits.

The fully-functional Srikurmam plant will draw sand from the group’s 7.2-sq km mine spread along the coastline, for which the company has a 30-year lease extending till 2027.

Trimex group executive director Pradeep Koneru said half of the licenced area was privately owned, for which it would compensate on the basis of crops forgone by the farmers. For the government land, it is required to pay 2.5 per cent of its sales revenue as royalty, he told Business Standard.

He said the company’s operations do not require outright ownership of the land. It would use it only for about six months to one year, after which the land will be returned to the owner with the sand pumped back. The net quantity of sand taken would be 10 to 15 per cent, he said.

The group looks to value addition in the next phase of its operations with Titanium dioxide extraction planned for the next two-three years. It is currently exporting 100 per cent of its production, and feels the need for establishing product quality among its international customers before taking up value addition.

These minerals are used in refractive devices (sillimanite), paper, plastic and paints (titanium dioxide), apart from glass products, artificial gems, aircraft parts, and artificial human joints.

The group’s sales are entirely in open markets, Prasad Koneru said, adding that there was no canvassing with clients. Its revenues were in the range of Rs 15-18 crore per month over the last three months, and its topline this year is expected to be around Rs 200 crore at 65 per cent capacity utilisation. Its debt-equity ratio was 35-65. The group has assets in Congo, the UAE, Kuwait, Indonesia and CIS countries.

Trimex to set up Rs 2,250-cr titanium plant in India

Trimex group, a Dubai-headquartered industrial minerals company today said it will set up a titanium plant in Andhra Pradesh by 2014 entailing an investment of about Rs 2,250 crore.

“We plan to set up a titanium pigment plant at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh with a production capacity of 44,000 tonnes per annum in the next three years,” Executive Director and CEO of the group subsidiary Trimex Sands, Pradeep Koneru told reporters here.

India requires 1,50,000 tonnes of pigment against a production of only 50,000 tonnes per annum, Koneru said adding that environment clearance is awaited for the $500 million (about Rs 2,250 crore) project.

The group earlier inked a pact with Indonesian government today for setting up a $850 million (about Rs 3,825 crore) titanium pigment plant in the South-east Asian country with 46,000 tonnes capacity per annum.

“Timex Sands will set up a world-class integrated titanium complex in Indonesia with an estimated cost of $850 million in eight to ten years,” Koneru said adding the project is expected to create about 6,500 jobs there.

Indonesia Industry Minister M S Hidayat said the proposed plant will ensure regular supply of the pigment to the end users at a cost-effective price.

“Indonesia has large limenite resources, about 40 million tonnes, despite which the country annually imports about 46,000 tonnes of titanium pigment,” he said.

Trimex group Chairman Prasad Koneru said the integrated titanium complex in Indonesia will expand the company’s reach in the global market and widen its product mix.

Trimex group is a mineral business house with interests in extraction, sourcing, procurement, delivery etc.

Titanium has wide applications and can be alloyed with iron, aluminium, etc to produce strong lightweight alloys for aerospace, military, industrial process, automotive, agri-food,orthopedic implants, dental instruments etc.

Pradeep Koneru – Multi Mineral Facility on the East Coast

The Trimex Group, which has interests in various sectors including minerals and logistics, is planning to set up an integrated, multi-mineral facility on the east coast.

The group is working on a plan to extract minerals from beach sand and build abilities to produce titanium at a later stage by 2017.

Being taken up with an outlay of Rs 4,000 crore, Trimex is taking up the project in four phases and the first phase has already commenced production, though at lower levels.

The Andhra Pradesh government has granted approval to the group’s proposal to harvest minerals from the beach sand deposits near Srikurmam, Bhavanapadu and Kalingapatnam coast.

“We are starting with five minerals from the sand taken from the beach deposits. All the minerals have demand in the export market and we are trying to build market for some of the minerals even in the domestic market,” Trimex chairman Prasad R Koneru said.

The first phase set up with about Rs 250 crore produces 2,00,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) of ilmenite, 6,000 TPA of rutile, 6,000 TPA of zircon, 60,000 TPA of garnet and 50,000 TPA of silimanite.
The products are used in the manufacture of paints, ceramics, abrasives, insulation, cosmetics, paper, leather, glass products, artificial gems, aircraft parts, artificial human joints and filtration media.

“The second phase will have facilities to produce titanium dioxide pigments. They find application in paints and allied segments. Apart from that, we are also working on some of the value added products. The second phase would involve an investment of about Rs 1,200-1,500 crore,” he said.

In the second phase, the company would expand the capacities for producing the existing minerals while taking up works to produce sillimanite flour, sintered sillimanite grains and other minerals in the fourth phase.

The beach sand project involves a process of mining sand from the beach beyond 100 meters of the high tide and then purifying it by using multiple levels of water treatment.

After extracting the minerals, depending on their content in the sand, the leftover sand is pumped back into the beach to refill the pits.

“The total investment over the next 10 years would be around Rs 4,000 crore and we are looking at a debt-equity of 70:30,” he said.

Pradeep Koneru Profiles

Pradeep Koneru oversees the India operations of the Trimex Group as CEO and Executive Director of Trimex Sands Pvt Ltd. He has led the development of Trimex group’s iron ore, barite and bauxite business in South Asia, and established the heavy mineral sands division. Through Pradeep’s strategy of growth through diversification and forward-and-backward integration. Trimex’s India business has consistently grown in scale and profitability

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!