LCUK investigates PET expansion opportunities in Europe

10 March 2011 12:20  [Source: ICIS news]

VALENCIA, Spain (ICIS)--Lotte Chemical UK (LCUK) is investigating the possibility of expanding its presence in the European polyethylene terephthalate (PET) market, a company source said on Thursday.

“LCUK is committed to PET and [upstream] purified terephthalic acid (PTA) in Europe and wants to expand its presence. We are aggressively examining our options to do this,” the source said.

It is not known whether LCUK is looking to expand its PET production by acquisition or investment.

Spain’s Cepsa Quimica is the newest entry on the PET market, having recently acquired Artenius’ idled San Roque plant in Spain. The 175,000 tonne/year unit is scheduled to have marketable product by April.

On 2 March, Thailand’s Indorama Ventures completed the acquisition of Poland-based PET resin manufacturer SK Eurochem from South Korea’s SK Chemicals.

The market is currently tight because of a lack of PTA which caused a reduction in PET output and led to a force majeure at Artenius’ European sites.

“Generally there is no [PET] material in March,” a customer said.

Tightness in the PET market and higher feedstock costs resulted in prices surpassing €1,600/tonne ($2,222/tonne) FD (free delivered) Europe. This was up by around €300/tonne compared to January.

LCUK already operates a 150,000 tonne/year PET plant and a 500,000 tonne/year PTA plant at Wilton in the UK. The KP Chemical subsidiary bought Artenius UK’s assets in January 2010.

($1 = €0.72)

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By: Caroline Murray
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