CEO Aloke Lohia said the company has completed its feasibility study for setting up a new plant in North America with an estimated $140 million investment. The new plant will produce PET with total production capacity of 400,000 tonnes per year. It is expected to start operations in the first quarter of 2009.

He said the company was negotiating to acquire a plant in Europe and expects the deal to be finalised in the next quarter.

That acquisition would boost production capacity in Europe from 198,000 tonnes per year to more than 450,000 tonnes in the next two years, he said.

Meanwhile, the company estimates higher revenues and profits in this quarter compared to the same period last year following commencement of operations at its plants in Lithuania and America.

In addition, its spread in this quarter will be $10 (Bt328) to $20 higher than the first quarter because it had cut its product price in the last quarter by around 10 per cent to woo European customers.

He said Indorama would also look out for opportunities to acquire plants in Asia.

Indorama expects global demand for PET to be 13.5 million tonnes this year, growing

9 per cent to 10 per cent annually.

 He said the global trend was to replace aluminium cans with plastic, which would push up demand robustly.

The company has targeted revenues of Bt57 billion this year, however, that would also depend on the movement of the baht.

The company's consolidated first-quarter revenues rose 111 per cent to Bt5.7 billion from Bt2.7 billion in the same period last year.

Its net profit after taxes increased to Bt224 million, from Bt203 million, despite the stronger baht and margin pressure.

Chalida  Ekvitthayavechnukul

The Nation