HMC Polymers, Thailand's first polypropylene resin manufacturer, will inaugurate its new annual production capacity of 750,000 tonnes in the second quarter.
The move is aimed at serving increasing demand for polypropylene both domestically and internationally.
President Niels Nielsen yesterday said his company had invested millions of US dollars in recent years to increase annual production capacity of polypropylene resin at its plant in the Map Ta Phut area by 300,000 tonnes, on top of the present 450,000 tonnes.
It has already secured contracts to supply the increased capacity of polypropylene to both local and foreign clients.
HMC Polymers' project for increasing its production capacity for polypropylene was not included in the recent Central Administrative Court's suspensions for the Map Ta Phut area, so it can proceed with construction work. The company is an affiliate of PTT and LyondellBasell, the world's largest manufacturer of polypropylene resins.
Nielsen said the company's production would be supplied to downstream manufacturers in many industries producing high value-added goods. Polypropylene resin is also used to produce plastic packaging to replace other materials, such as glass and paper, because plastic's advantage is its lighter weight, which helps reduce waste and lessen any impact on the environment.
The new capacity will reduce polypropylene imports.
HMC Polymers now exports 15 per cent of its production, and that proportion is expected to grow quickly following the increase in capacity.
The company yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with Srithai Superware, the world's largest manufacturer of melamine tableware, for the joint development of polypropylene plastic products, for better quality.
HMC Polymers already supplies polypropylene resin to Srithai for the production of plastic packaging.
Srithai Superware chairman and president Sanan Angubolkul said demand for polypropylene resin was increasing, because many packaging producers had switched to plastic from other materials.
Transportation costs for plastic packaging is lower than glass and wood packaging, because of the lighter weight. A lorry can transport more plastic packaging glass packaging, he said.
Sanan said he was very worried about whether the Map Ta Phut problems could be ended soon.
"If the government cannot solve this problem as quickly as possible, polypropylene manufacturers, which are the upstream producers of the plastic industry and may have been planning to increase production capacity in the near future to serve increasing demand, may not be able to do so. This will create a shortage in polypropylene resin and affect downstream manufacturers," he said.
