Indorama Ventures plans major expansion to lift PET capacity in Europe by 20% in two years

11-Apr-11

Plans are underway for capacity expansion a Europe by world number one producer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET)- Indorama Ventures Plc (IVL). IVL is planning another major expansion that would raise capacity in Europe by 20% to 1.3 mln tpa over the next two years, at one of its five existing manufacturing sites in Europe. The site to be chose will most likely be the one in Poland or the Netherlands. Expansion is unlikely in the three IVL plants located in Italy, Lithuania and England. The final decision will be made within this year and it will take two years to complete construction. The IVL board on April 5 approved the expansion of PET polymer production in Europe, with a capacity increase of 220,000 tpa from the current 1.1 mln tpa. This brownfield expansion expected to be at a highly cost-competitive capital expenditure and be operated at the lowest operational cost by being able to leverage on existing infrastructure and close proximity to key raw materials. Europe has so far been a net importer of PET, normally used in the production of drink bottles, with the demand growing at about 3% a year.