ATC revenues to rise by 15% in 2007

20-Dec-06

The Aromatics Plc (ATC), Thailand's top maker of aromatics, estimates revenue to increase by about 15% to 85 billion baht in 2007 from 75 billion baht this year due to improved production capacity and rising global prices of main products paraxylene and benzene. ATC's total production for 2006 is projected at about 530,000 tons of paraxylene and 350,000 tons of benzene. Production is estimated to rise marginally next year without a maintenance shutdown period. In 2008, ATC will be able to produce an additional 600,000 tons of paraxylene and an additional 320,000 tons of benzene as a result of the completion of an expansion project. In addition, ATC started to produce 50,000 tonnes of cyclohexane this year, and production capacity will increase to 150,000 tonnes next year. Next year, ATC expects average paraxylene prices of $1,000 per tonne and benzene prices of $850. The rise in prices is expected because new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plants worldwide that would require more than three million tons of paraxylene next year, with China contributing almost 60% of this demand.