PPT Public Plans for Startup of New Olefins Capacity in August

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Southeast Asia continues to compete on the world stage for petrochemical production. Established companies are bringing online new capacities of chemicals for sale in Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand at a brisk pace.

PTT Public Company Limited (BAK:PTT) (Bangkok, Thailand) has been in business since 1978. Formed during a rough time for petroleum supplies, and at that time named Petroleum Authority of Thailand, PTT was committed to exploring and developing the oil reserves that existed in and around Thailand. PTT has carried this business ethic forward as it has continuosly invested resources into billions of dollars worth of development in Thailand, covering oil exploration and production, refining and petrochemical production.

PTT will be completing construction of a new facility in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Zone, in Rayong, Thailand, in August of this year. The facility will produce 1 million metric tons per year of ethylene; 300,000 metric tons per year of low density polyethylene (LDPE); and 400,000 metric tons per year of linear low density polyethylene (LLPDE). Construction on the site began in early 2007 after several years of planning, which dated back to late 2004.

The ethylene unit was engineered and constructed by Toyo Engineering (Tokyo, Japan), and the technology was licensed by ABB Lummus. The two polyethylene units were engineered and constructed by Simon Carves Limited (Cheshire, England), a subsidiary of Punj Lloyd Group (Gurgaon, India). Lyondellbasell's (Rotterdam, Netherlands) Lupotech technology was utilized in both polyethylene units.

Map Ta Phut has been a hotbed of activity in Thailand for industrial construction and production in the past few years, but recently has come under fire because of new environmental restricitons. The Map Ta Phut Industrial Zone plays host to Thai companies such as PTT and Siam Cement Group to international corporations such as Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) (Midland, Michigan). PTT's new site came in just under the bar ,as there are currently approximately 75 projects that have been put on hold by the government due to the new, stricter environmental regulations that were inacted in 2009. This is thought by some government officials and industry professionals as being a hindrance to Thailand's industrial growth, and answers are being sought on how to proceed and free up the investors before they start pulling out, as some already have.

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