SIAM CEMENT GROUP
SCG to build polyolefins plant
Kan Trakulhoon, president of the Siam Cement Group, speaks at yesterday’s press conference.
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Bt17-billion facility will be fed from second Rayong naphtha cracker
The Siam Cement Group (SCG) will build a Bt17.1-billion integrated polyolefins plant as it expands its petrochemical business, which contributes nearly half its turnover. "We are employing modern technology to focus on high-value, non-commoditised products," president Kan Trakulhoon told a press conference yesterday. The downstream plant would be fed from the second naphtha cracker in Rayong, which is a 67:33 joint venture with US-based Dow Chemical. The Bt45.6-billion cracker would produce 900,000 tonnes of ethylene, 800,000 tonnes of propylene and 700,000 tonnes of other petrochemical products per year. The downstream plant has an annual capacity to produce 400,000 tonnes each of high-density polyethylene and polypropylene. It is set to start operating in 2010. In Vietnam, a Bt5.2-billion packaging paper plant is expected to start production by mid-2009, Siam Cement said in a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand. "The investment in Vietnam is part of Siam Cement's strategic move to expand its core businesses in Asean. It will also increase SCG's regional competitiveness," Kan told reporters. The new Vietnamese plant, with an annual capacity of 220,000 tonnes, will boost Siam Cement's total packaging paper capacity to 1.74 million tonnes a year. Thailand has a production capacity of 1.32 million tonnes and the Philippines 200,000 tonnes. Vietnam has growing demand for packaging paper, projected at 10-15 per cent per year over 10 years, the company said, adding that demand this year is estimated at 580,000 tonnes, of which 45 per cent would be imported. Vietnam has been a major export market for Siam Cement over the past 10 years, with expected exports this year of 100,000 tonnes. SCG reported third-quarter revenue of Bt67.7 billion, up 20 per cent from the same period last year, thanks mainly to higher petrochemical product prices. Its quarterly operating net profit rose 5 per cent to Bt8.4 billion. However, due to extraordinary expenses of Bt798 million, its net profit totalled only Bt7.6 billion, which is 10 per cent down from last year. In the first nine months of this year, the group's net profit dropped 9 per cent year on year to Bt24.78 billion, despite a 16-per-cent increase in revenue to Bt195.6 billion.
Watcharapong Thongrung The Nation
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