IVL, Dhunseri form joint venture to acquire Egypt PET plant

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Indorama Ventures Public Co Ltd (IVL) and India’s Dhunseri Petrochem have teamed up to acquire and restart a 540,000 tonne/year polyethylene terephthalate (PET) facility in Egypt, the Thai producer said on Friday.

A 50:50 joint venture was formed between IVL indirect subsidiary, Indorama Netherlands, and Dhunseri for the purchase of the PET plant of Egyptian Polyester Company SAE (EIPET), IVL said in a statement.

“Restart activities for manufacturing recyclable PET has commenced and key raw material PTA [purified terephthalic acid] will be shipped from IVL Portugal soon after restart of Portugal PTA production anticipated in early July 2018,” IVL said.

The Thai company signed definitive agreements for the joint venture and the acquisition of up to 50% of EIPET but financial details were not disclosed.

EIPET is one of the largest PET producers in the Middle East and Africa, with its production site in Ain Sokhna free trade zone, northwest of the Gulf of Suez.

The acquisition will increase IVL’s existing global PET capacity by 10%, it said.

“EIPET also marks Indorama Ventures’ maiden entry into Egypt, complementing our existing footprint in EMEA [Europe-Middle East-Africa],” IVL’s CEO Aloke Lohia said.

IVL said that EIPET will help Egypt generate $300m of positive trade balance as imported resin is phased out and net exports of resin and packaging commence.

“EIPET will provide meaningful opportunities for feedstock integration from our existing assets while allowing us to serve our customers in growth markets of Egypt and in the region,” Lohia said.

IVL and Dhunseri have an existing joint venture in India since 2016.

Picture: Mineral water in plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles (Photographer: Ulrich Niehoff/imageBROKER/REX/Shutterstock)