Indorama acquires BP's petrochem plant in Decatur, to be renamed Indorama Ventures Xylenes & PTA LLC

04-Apr-16

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited announced acquisition of BP's petrochemical plant at Decautur, which will be renamed Indorama Ventures Xylenes & PTA LLC, for an undisclosed amount. The complex has capacity to produce 1 mln tpa of purified terephthalic acid (PTA). The sale includes the site, working capital and related infrastructure, and certain contracts with suppliers and customers. BP Director of Media Affairs Michael Abendhoff has said the plant's 400 employees will transfer to the new owner. BP's units in Decatur make PTA, paraxylene (PX), a raw material for PTA production, and naphthalene dicarboxylate (NDC), a chemical used in new-generation polyesters and resins for LCD flat-panel displays, ultra-thin data storage tape and other products. "This acquisition is a major coup for the company as it brings us competitive feedstock security with scale advantages, technology ownership and innovative products which our customers can rely upon," said Aloke Lohia, Group CEO of IVL. "We are very pleased to welcome the management and staff of the BP Decatur facility to our family and look forward to a continuation of the teamwork we have built up over the years," said D.K. Agarwal, CEO of the PET and feedstock division at IVL. "We know that this is a professional and hard-working group of men and women who I hope will continue to work with us and achieve further milestones." Based in Bangkok, Thailand, IVL has a presence in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific. The company says it is the largest PET producer in the world with US$7 bln in 2015 revenue and 14,000 employees.