India’s MRPL to set up PP unit; reports Q1 net profit down 50%

23 July 2009 16:21  [Source: ICIS news]

NEW DELHI (ICIS news)--India’s Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) plans to set up a 440,000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP) plant at its existing refining site at Mangalore, in Karnataka state, the company said on Thursday.

The plant, which is estimated to cost Indian rupees (Rs) 18bn ($371.4m), would be completed in over two years' time.

The board of MRPL’s parent company, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), has approved the plan, it said.

The plant would be part of MRPL’s ongoing refinery expansion project, it said.

The Rs124.12bn project envisages the production of 300,000 tonnes/year of petrochemical-grade propylene and 250,000 tonnes/year of lube oil base stock, apart from enhanced production of other refinery products such as petrol.

The project, which is to be completed by October 2010, would increase the company’s refining capacity from 9.69m tonnes/year to 15m tonnes/year.

Separately, MRPL reported a 50% decline in its first-quarter net profit to Rs4.2bn, down from Rs8.45bn in the same quarter in 2008.

The decrease was primarily due to a 52% decrease in average product realisation to $62.48/bbl, down from $130.48/bbl, MRPL said.

Operating profit decreased by 48% to Rs7.56bn from Rs14.5bn, it said.

Inventory gain decreased by 60% to $4.48/bbl, down from $11.27bbl, due to a decline in crude prices, MRPL said.

The company said its gross sales fell by 40% to Rs71.7bn from Rs118.6bn.

($1 = Rs48.47)

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By: Naresh Minocha
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