TIDMTGR
RNS Number : 9933I
Tirupati Graphite PLC
17 December 2020
17 December 2020
Tirupati Graphite plc ('Tirupati' or the 'Company')
New Flame Retardant Graphite Composite Launched and Sales
Contract Secured
Tirupati Graphite plc, the fully integrated, revenue generative,
specialist graphite and graphene producer with operations in
Madagascar and India, is pleased to announce that it has
successfully developed and commercialised technology to manufacture
flame retardant polyurethane foam ('FRF'), which conforms to Hazard
Level 3 (highest level) of European Standard EN 45545 - Fire
Protection on Railway Vehicles (the 'Standard'), and an expandable
graphite based flame retardant composite ('FRC') for use in
manufacture of the FRF at its Patalganga Plant in India. The FRC is
being produced to the latest European approved Standard aimed at
protecting passengers and staff against onboard fire incidents on
railway vehicles and defines the requirements for the fire
behaviour of materials and components including the foam used in
passenger coach seats and berths, a Standard which has recently
been adopted by the Indian Railways.
Overview
-- Tirupati has successfully developed technology to manufacture
FRF, using FRC as the key component to meet the Standard at its
Patalganga Plant in India
-- This follows an initial agreement (the 'Agreement') entered
into with an Indian manufacturer of railway coaches (the 'Buyer')
signed in June 2020, whereby Tirupati was appointed as a technology
consultant to design and develop the FRF and FRC to comply with the
Standard adopted by Indian Railways
-- The new products have been tested in an accredited European
laboratory to meet the Standard and achieved approval from the
Indian Railways for use in its passenger train seats and berths
-- Under the terms of the Agreement, the Buyer shall now
manufacture the FRF and procure all its FRC requirements
exclusively from Tirupati for a minimum period of three years
-- Indian Railways, governed by the Ministry of Railways,
operates India's national railway system, one of the world's
largest rail networks with more than 13,500 passenger trains daily
and rolling stock of more than 64,000 passenger carriages which
continues to expand
-- Following completion of successful FRF and FRC development,
Tirupati has received an initial procurement order of FRC from the
Buyer at a price exceeding US$4,000/MT, enabling the Buyer to
manufacture enough FRF for 50 carriages with further sales expected
on a continued basis
-- Tirupati intends to brand its FRC as "GrafEN 45545", shall
retain all intellectual property ('IP') rights and is at liberty to
licence the technology and sell its FRC to other parties globally,
creating additional technology services fees and product sales
opportunities for the Company
Shishir Poddar, CEO of Tirupati Graphite, said, "The product
development for the manufacture of FRF, which satisfies the most
stringent European Union ('EU') safety standards, demonstrates our
ability to develop bespoke specialty graphite products for hi-tech
applications at the highest regulatory standards. It is such
expertise that sets us apart and reflects the over 100 years of
collective experience our team has in this niche area of flake
graphite and its applications.
"We now have the ability to market the process and technology
developed alongside a new FRC as a branded product into the EU and
other parts of the globe while we continue to provide it for Indian
Railways through the Buyer. This initial order is the first in what
we expect to be a much larger, new proprietary product market
segment, which we expect to grow alongside our other product,
CARBOFLAMEX(R) which is already being successfully produced and
sold from our Patalganga plant. This product development and
ongoing sales arrangement demonstrates our ability to continue
expanding our market reach and we will continue to target new
applications in line with our innovative, technologically driven
and active market development approach."
Further Information
In November 2019, Indian Railways adopted the latest European
Union requirements complying with Hazard Level 3 of European
Standard EN 45545 - Fire Protection on Railway Vehicles (the
'Standard') for flame retardant polyurethane foam ('FRF') used in
passenger coaches, seats and berths across Europe. In June 2020
Tirupati entered into a Technology Consultancy and Offtake
Agreement with an Indian manufacturer and registered supplier to
Indian Railways of railway coaches and components, to formulate and
develop a FRF sample, compliant with the new Standard for a total
development fee of GBP20,000. The key terms of this agreement are
set out below:
-- Tirupati shall develop the formulation for and sample of FRF
on best efforts basis, including the FRC required to achieve the
Standard
-- The Buyer would pay a non-refundable development fee of
GBP10,000 upfront and further GBP10,000 upon successful development
of the FRF
-- Upon successful development of the FRF, the Buyer shall buy
all its requirements of the FRC for the manufacturing of FRF
exclusively from Tirupati for a minimum period of 3 years
-- Tirupati shall retain all IP and have no obligation to
disclose any technical details except as is required by the Buyer
for the manufacturing of the FRF
-- Tirupati shall be at liberty to licence the technology and
sell its FRC to any party outside India or to any entity not being
a supplier of FRF to the Indian Railways.
Tirupati developed the FRF at its Patalganga plant, and the
product was successfully tested in an accredited European
laboratory and achieved approval from the Indian Railways for use
in its passenger train seats and berths. Accordingly, the Company
has received its development fee from the Buyer and the first sales
order of FRC at a price exceeding US$4,000/MT has been placed, with
further regular orders in the pipeline and other markets remaining
open to Tirupati for development.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014. Upon the publication of
this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be
in the public domain.
**S **
For further information, please visit
https://www.tirupatigraphite.co.uk/ or contact:
Tirupati Graphite Plc
Puruvi Poddar +44 (0) 20 3984 9894
Optiva Securities Limited (Broker)
Daniel Ingram +44 (0) 20 3137 1902
---------------------
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR)
Charlotte Page / Cosima Akerman +44 (0) 20 236 1177
---------------------
Notes
Tirupati Graphite Plc is a revenue-generative, multi-asset,
multi-jurisdictional, fully integrated producer and developer of
high-grade natural flake graphite, speciality graphite and
graphene, which captures the entire value chain. With a unique set
of properties, graphite has diverse applications with multiple
growth streams and graphene forms the new generation of 2D
materials. In support of this, the Company places a special
emphasis on "green" applications, including renewable energy
generation, energy storage and composites, and is committed to
ensuring its operations are sustainable as well.
The Company's operations include primary mining and processing
in Madagascar, where the Company operates two key projects,
Sahamamy and Vatomina; 3,000 tonnes p/a of high-quality flake
graphite concentrate with up to 96% purity is currently being
produced and sold to customers globally, and this is planned to
increase to 81,000 tonnes p/a by 2024 as per the Company's modular
medium-term development plan.
In India, the Company processes and produces speciality graphite
for use in hi-tech applications like lithium-ion batteries, fire
retardants and composites. Its specialty graphite processing
operations include the 1,200 tonnes p/a Patalganga Project, which
was successfully commissioned in July 2019 to manufacture and sell
CARBOFLAMEX(R), a trademarked fire-retardant expandable graphite
product. At the next stage of development, Patalganga shall further
be expanded to 4,800 tonnes p/a capacity with capabilities to also
produce high purity and micronised graphite, so increasing market
and product reach by 2021. The Company has developed unique green
processing technologies for manufacturing these advanced
materials.
After establishing itself in the specialty graphite markets
through the Patalganga Project, an additional 24,000 tonnes p/a
specialty graphite processing facility is to be established in two
12,000 tonnes p/a phases. The plant will produce expandable, high
purity, micronised and spherical graphite. The west coast of India
has been chosen as the location and a detailed feasibility study
has been completed. Tirupati is also in the process of establishing
the Tirupati Graphene and Mintech Research Centre, a
state-of-the-art R&D centre focussed on producing graphene,
developing its applications, and further providing environmentally
friendly technologies consultancy for mineral processing. Land
acquisition is in progress in Bhubaneswar, India, and a detailed
feasibility study completed.
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