Thai business giant reconsider international expansion

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Siam Cement Group (SCG) says its planned petrochemical complex in Vietnam would be further postponed by six months, pending the conclusion of an agreement with a new joint-venture partner following the exit of Qatar Petroleum International (QPI), as per GV.

The USD4.5-billion fully integrated complex is to be the first of its kind in Vietnam and a key regional flagship for the Thai conglomerate.

For Siam Cement, the massive size of the Vietnamese complex dictates that it would be better to wait until every major component is in place, said chief financial officer Chaovalit Ekkabut. SCG is now being in talks with a number of potential new partners who are keen to jointly invest, he added. "We think we are still in the timeline to complete everything in six months so that the project would go ahead and be completed as planned," said Chaovalit, noting that the focus was on the long-term potential of petrochemical demand in Vietnam rather than the normal cycles of the global petrochemical business.

To be developed on Long Son Island in southern Ba Ria Vung Tau province, the complex will consist of a factory capable of turning out 1.65 million tons of olefins, 1.45 million tons of polyolefins, 280,000 tons of chlor-alkali, and other materials each year. The site will also include support facilities, including a port, warehouses and a power plant.

SCG holds 46 % in the Long Son Petrochemicals Project, in which QPI previously had a 25% stake. The remaining 29% belongs to two Vietnamese partners - PetroVietnam and Vinachem.

The Qatari partner has maintained raw material supply contracts for the complex which was granted an investment license in 2008. Prior to the latest delay, it was projected to come onstream in 2018.

As MRC informed previously, in November 2015, Qatar Petroleum (QP), as part of a restructuring program, announced plans to withdraw from the joint venture Long Son petrochemical complex in Vietnam.

Besides, in 2014, top Thai energy firm PTT Pcl said it would make a proposal to the Vietnamese government to build a USD20 billion refinery and petrochemical complex, revised down from an earlier project discussed two years ago.
MRC

Petronas plans to spend USD 4 billion over next 5 years

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petronas Chemicals Group, a unit of Malaysia's state-run oil-and-gas company Petroliam Nasional, or Petronas, plans to spend USD 4 billion over the next five years, channeling the bulk of the cash to a mammoth petrochemical project in the southern state of Johor, as per GV.

The planned expenditure is in line with its parent's commitment to continue with the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development, also known as the Rapid project, even as it faces tough business conditions in 2016 amid low crude oil prices. Apart from Rapid, other key projects for this year include construction of a specialty chemical plant in the eastern Malaysian state of Pahang, said Petronas Chemicals chief executive Sazali Hamzah. The company is also building a plant that will produce polyisobutene, he added. "Many companies will tend to back off from capital investments, stopping or shelving some of their projects," Sazali said. "(But) with our strong cash position, we have the advantage to fund our existing projects and growth projects as well."

Despite dwindling earnings and global oil glut, Petronas is pushing ahead with the massive USD 27 billion Rapid project to expand further into specialty chemicals business that typically commands higher margins than other downstream products.

The complex includes a deep-water port and petrochemical and gas-import facilities, making it more of an integrated industrial complex. It will also house petrochemicals and polymer plants with a production capacity of nearly 3.5 million tons of differentiated and highly-specialized products.

As MRC reported before, Petronas plans to build a C6-based metallocene linear LDPE plant and a low density polyethylene (LDPE)/ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) swing plant at its greenfield integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in southern Johor state by mid-2019. The proposed metallocene LLDPE will have a capacity of 350,000 tpa, while the LDPE/EVA will have a capacity of about 150,000 tpa. The two plants are part of Petronas' planned Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development project in Pengerang at Johor. RAPID includes a 300,000 bpd refinery and a petrochemical complex with a 3 million tpa steam cracker, and is expected to come onstream in mid-2019. The petrochemical complex will have the capacity to produce 7.7 million tpa of petrochemical products.

Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
MRC

Indorama mulls plans to debottleneck Spanish plant after takeover

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Thailand's Indorama Ventures (IVL) is considering plans to debottleneck a plant belonging to its newly acquired Spanish subsidiary, as per Magships.

IVL took control of Cepsa Spain, effective April 7, and renamed it Indorama Ventures Quimica.

The wholly owned Spanish subsidiary, located at Guadarranque-San Roque, Cadiz, produces 220,000 mtpa of purified isopthalic acid, 175,000 mtpa of polyethylene terephthalate and 325,000 mtpa of purified terephthalic acid.

"Our Spanish assets will complement Indorama Ventures' existing portfolio in Europe with consolidation of PTA and PET assets and with addition of PIA, a high value-add business. We see some debottlenecking opportunities at the plant that will increase efficiency," Aloke Lohia, IVL's group CEO, said.

He did not disclose further details about the debottlenecking plan.

As MRC informed earlier, in March 2015, Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) informed that its subsidiary Indorama Petrochem Limited, Thailand signed a definitive share purchase agreement with Bangkok Cable Company, Limited, a major shareholder, to acquire 94.91 percent equity stake in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymers maker Bangkok Polyester Public Company Limited (BPC), Thailand.

Indorama Ventures is a leading producer in the polyester value chain in Thailand with strong global network and manufacturing across Asia, Europe and North America. Its products serve major players in diversified end use markets, including food, beverages, personal and home care, health care, automotives, textile, and industrial. The company’s main products are PTA, PET and polyester fibre, which are distributed across the world.
MRC

EU to investigate Romanian debt write-off for petrochemical firm Oltchim

MOSCOW (MRC) -- European Union regulators will investigate whether Romania's decision to write off state-controlled petrochemical company Oltchim's debts breach the bloc's state aid rules, reported Reuters.

Insolvent since early 2013, the indebted company is now being restructured ahead of its privatisation as part of an International Monetary Fund-led aid deal.

The European Commission said it would examine the debts owed to the Romanian Authority on managing state assets (AAAS), debt cancelled by AAAS and other state-owned firms as well as the continuing provision of electricity, steam and saline solutions to Oltchim.

"Our aim is to facilitate a sustainable future for the economic activities of the company without the need for further government support," European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, in February 2015, yet another attempt by the government of Romania to privatise the insolvent national PVC producer Oltchim failed after none of four potential buyers finally submitted a firm bid by the deadline.

Oltchim S.A., is one of the largest chemical companies in Romania and Southeastern Europe, with a total of 3470 employees in 2011. It was established in 1966. Constructions of the facilities began in July of 1966. The first plant, Mercury Cells Electrolysis, was commissioned on 28 July 1968. Currently, company is exporting in more than 80 countries.
MRC

Teijin announces para-aramid fiber capacity expansion by 10% at Matsuyama

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Teijin Ltd has announced plans to expand Technora para-aramid fiber production by 10% through increasing capacity in Teijin’s Matsuyama Factory, as per Plastemart.

Construction begins this June at a cost of 1.5 billion JPY, with operation slated to begin from October 2017.
Teijin and the group’s core aramid-fibers business Teijin Aramid B.V. Opening a new window will jointly expand the worldwide sales of Technora in response to increasing market demand worldwide.

High-performance composite materials offering new value are one of the four business pillars in the Transformation and Growth Strategies of Teijin’s current medium-term business plan. Promising fields for Teijin’s high-performance fibers include infrastructure and energy, safety, functional paper and filters, and mobility. By boosting Technora capacity, the company is putting a higher priority on leveraging high-performance materials in advanced solutions to meet diverse demands in the global market.

As MRC informed before, Teijin Ltd. had closed by the end of December 2015 its Teijin Polycarbonate Singapore subsidiary which lacks competitiveness in terms of energy costs. The Singapore plant has 225,000 t/y of polycarbonate (PC) capacity.

Teijin is a technology-driven global group offering advanced solutions in the areas of sustainable transportation, information and electronics, safety and protection, environment and energy, and healthcare. Its main fields of operation are high-performance fibers such as aramid, carbon fibers & composites, healthcare, films, resin & plastic processing, polyester fibers, products converting and IT. The group has some 150 companies and around 17,000 employees spread out over 20 countries worldwide.
MRC