Kemira links with Metro in Thailand

25 March 1996 00:00  [Source: ACN]

KEMIRA Chemicals has entered into a 50:50 joint venture with Metro Co to produce water chemicals in Thailand.

The new company, called Kemwater Thailand, will initially establish a dissolving station at Samut Prakarn, south of Bangkok. The station, which has an estimated investment value of US$300 000 and a potential capacity of 50 000 tonne/year, is due to come onstream late this year. It will dissolve imported granular chemicals into liquid coagulants for the domestic market.

The new company will start up a plant producing water chemicals in the second phase. Details on capacity, investment and product are expected to be finalised next year, but a Kemira spokesman said that the second project will depend on the success of the dissolving station. If the station does well, the company hopes to have the water chemicals plant onstream by the end of 1998.

'We chose Thailand as the site for expanding our water chemicals business because of the country's rapidly developing petrochemical industry,' the spokesman said. 'Besides the domestic market, Kemwater Thailand hopes to export the water chemicals to Asia.'

He said Metro's subsidiary, Thai Central Chemical, will handle the operations of Kemwater Thailand with Kemira. Thai Central Chemical, a trading company, also acts as Kemira's marketing arm in Thailand.

Kemira Agro, an associate company of Kemira Chemical, already has two joint ventures with Metro through Thai Central Chemical. Kemira Thai and Superstar Fertilisers, both of which are 50:50 joint ventures, are marketing companies which sell Kemira's fertilisers in Thailand. Kemira Thai markets granular fertilisers while Superstar Fertilisers markets water-solvent fertilisers. Both companies have no plans to set up manufacturing plants in Thailand.

Kemira Chemicals has two licensing agreements for water chemicals in Asia, one with Kyunggi Water Treatment in South Korea and the other with Chemical Co of Malaysia in Malaysia. It has no immediate plans to set up other water chemical plants in Asia.

Metro is a diversified Thai conglomerate with operations in chemicals, property, construction and steel bars.

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