Asia expansion not a priority for Spain's Cepsa

09 July 2002 18:54  [Source: ICIS news]

MADRID (CNI)--Compania Espanola de Petroleos (Cepsa) has no immediate plans to expand in Asia, Jose Maria Marin, head of institutional relations told CNI on Tuesday.

"We are looking at expansion opportunities all over the world but Asia is not a first priority in our petrochemicals development right now," Marin said.

His comments come after Cepsa’s chemicals arm Ertisa last week suspended a 210 000 tonne/year phenol project in Thailand following collapse of talks with Bayer over an offtake agreement.

Sources in Thailand told CNI last week that Ertisa was hoping to reach a long-term contract of 5-10 years with Bayer, which is producing 160 000 tonne/year of bisphenol A (BPA) in Mab Ta Phut, Thailand.

Marin wouldn't comment on the Thailand suspension or any other Cepsa operations in Asia.

"Cepsa’s petrochemical-growth strategies are not fully planned," he said. "We are studying expansion alternatives worldwide and Ertisa is just one more piece of the puzzle."

Marin said Cepsa's unit Interquisa is on schedule to carry out its expansion programme in Canada and Spain, which includes the building of a purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant of 350 000 tonne/year capacity in Spain and another PTA factory in Canada of 500 000 tonne capacity, set for completion early next year.

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