PTT links up with Japanese partners in petrochem JV
PTT Plc has enlisted two major Japanese partners to set up a US$400-million (Bt15 billion) petrochemical plant as part of its plan to become one of the world's top 100 companies within a decade.
PTT president Prasert Bunsumpun said yesterday that PTT and Asahi Kasei Chemicals would cover 47.5 per cent of the investment in the new plant, while Marubeni would put up 5 per cent. The Thai plant should start producing and distributing chemical and petroleum products by 2010. These will include 200,000 tonnes of acryline nitrate and 70,000 tonnes of methyl methacrylate per year, as well as by-products such as 159,000 tonnes of ammonia sulphate and 200,000 tonnes of acetone cyanohydrin a year. PTT and Asahi are also studying the possibility of producing polymethyl methacrylate from methyl methacrylate. The country's largest group wants to increase the ratio of its overseas revenue to one-fifth as part of its ambition to become a multinational company in the same league as Fortune 100 companies in 10 years. During a seminar and exhibition of "PTT Group Synergy for Excellence", Prasert said that to jump up from 265th this year to the ranks of the top 100 in a decade, the company would have to double its annual revenues to $50 billion. Last year, PTT and its subsidiaries posted $23.1 billion in sales. The company also has to increase foreign revenues from the current 5-7 per cent of the total to about 20 per cent. PTT Exploration and Production Plc and its group in charge of natural gas exploration will take the lead in generating income from foreign sources. PTT plans to invest in exploration and production of liquefied natural gas in Algeria, Oman and Iran at a cost of more than Bt1 trillion. PTT has also laid down a short-term plan covering 2006-2010 that calls for spending Bt600 billion, mostly for the natural gas business. It should generate gross revenue to PTT to the tune of Bt1.5 trillion. PTT has no intention of increasing its holding in PTTEP from 66.31 per cent currently because it would take more than Bt100 billion to boost its stake by another 30 percentage points. The PTT Group expects to grow its business through its PTT Group Value Chain strategy. The value chain focuses on natural gas-based production and deploys the petrochemical and refining businesses as value-creating steps along the chain. PTT will definitely not raise retail fuel prices in the next one to two days even though global crude oil prices have edged up on concerns that Iran is reluctant to stop its nuclear programme as demanded by the United Nations, Prasert added.
Watcharapong Thongrung The Nation
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