Octal plans capacity expansion to become market leader

16-Feb-09

In a bid to gain market dominance, leading PET packaging maker from Oman-Octal, plans to expand capacity at its plant in Salalah, take advantage of low priced raw materials. Octal, which is owned by a group of US and Omani investors, started production last month on a US$350 mln (Dh1.28 bln) plant that can make 300,000 tpa of PET. The plant had made Octal the largest PET producer in the Middle East and its design had lowered costs substantially. Instead of manufacturing raw material at a separate facility, transporting them, and processing them into sheets, Octal has developed an integrated system where chemicals were pumped directly from tankers into the plant’s reactor, and molten plastic was turned into exportable sheets. This kind of integration, adds a lot of value, and saves a lot on costs. Octal plans to continue its expansion this year, when it signs contracts to build a US$250 mln production line capable of making 500,000 tpa of PET.