Leading the way in Australia

The Aditya Birla Group has spread its footprint across Australia's industrial and commercial landscape. The Group has built a presence in diverse sectors — from commodities to chemicals and textiles – along with partnerships that drive sustainable manufacturing. Here, we look at how the Group is serving Australian industry through its commercial interests.

Trade in tea and fertilisers 

Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprises Pte Ltd (SSOE), the bulk commodities trading division of the Aditya Birla Group, is gradually making inroads into the Australian market. Although it has been trading in Australia for many years, it formally created an Australian subsidiary in 2016-17, with headquarters in Melbourne, Victoria.

In the recent past, SSOE has witnessed an exponential increase in trading volumes of various commodities, especially fertilisers, coal, and agri products. It sources agri products, such as peas and lentils, from Australian centres and ships them to farm produce markets worldwide. Similarly, it procures coal of various varieties, including coking coal and steam coal and iron ore in different forms, for the global markets. SSOE also transports sulphur, tea, and fertiliser to Australian shores from key centres worldwide.

Chemicals for growth

Aditya Birla Chemicals' Chlor-Alkali division has emerged as a favoured supplier to Australian industry for certain speciality chemicals. Its exports to Australia include Aluminium Chloride Anhydrous (ACA), Chlorinated Paraffin (CPW), Poly Aluminium Chloride (PAC), Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) and Aluminium Chlorohydrate (ACH). Cumulatively, Aditya Birla Chemicals exports approximately 400-500 metric tonnes of these speciality chemicals to Australia every month.

ACA, supplied for manufacturing Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) in Perth, forms the bulk of the exports to Australia. Aditya Birla Chemicals has been the prime RM supplier  for this product in the past decade.

Water treatment and more

Through its Australian channel partner, Aditya Birla Chemicals also supplies PAC and ACH for potable water treatment to the local municipalities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.

CPW is a secondary plasticiser used as additives in metalworking fluids, sealants, paints, adhesives and coatings. The chemical finds takers in related units in and around Sydney and Melbourne. CaCl2 is extensively deployed in oil drilling and mining operations, widespread in Australia.

Innovating tree-free fibres

Grasim Industries, Aditya Birla Group’s flagship textile division, is partnering with different entities to bring environment-friendly and innovative textile offerings to the market. In February 2020, Birla Cellulose, the Pulp and Fibre business unit under Grasim Industries,  formally collaborated with Nanollose, an Australian entity, to exclusively explore and develop Nanollose’s Tree-Free fibres including nullarbor™ and nufolium™. Both companies have jointly applied to patent a high-tenacity lyocell fibre made from bacterial cellulose as part of the agreement.

Using waste as feedstock

The patent application, titled High Tenacity Lyocell Fibres From Bacterial Cellulose and Method of Preparation Thereof, represents a significant advancement over Nanollose's previous viscose versions of nullarbor™ and nufolium™. Using the lyocell process, a team of fibre experts at Birla Cellulose's Pulp and Fibre Innovation Centre have produced nullarbor fibre finer than silk and significantly stronger than conventional lyocell rayon fibre.

Unlike conventional fibre made from wood pulp, the nullarbor™ lyocell fibre would be produced using industrial and agricultural organic waste feedstock. The combination of Nanollose's Tree-Free cellulose and Birla Cellulose's closed-loop lyocell production process could potentially make the lyocell fibre one of the most eco-friendly and sustainable fibres available.

Power of collaboration

The joint patent application strengthens the intellectual property portfolio of both companies and protects the innovative Tree-Free fibre technology. The partnership is another crucial step in Aditya Birla Group's continuing journey to make its fibres more sustainable.

”The collaboration would bestow Nanollose with the ability to accelerate development, commercialisation and provide a manufacturing foundation for future textile and clothing brands that uptake Nanollose’s Tree-Free fibres.

It is an exciting development in next-generation alternative feedstock, and we are looking forward to scaling up the technology in collaboration with Nanollose.

Dr. Aspi Patel

Chief Technology Officer, Aditya Birla Group and Birla Cellulose

With its multi-industry presence, the Aditya Birla Group has transcended Australia's manufacturing and trading landscape.