Supattanapong Punmeechaow, chief executive and president of PTTGC, said the venture, GC Polyols Co Ltd, will be in the Hemaraj Eastern Industrial Estate in Rayong province. Rayong is one the three provinces covered by the EEC.

The signing ceremony for the Bt32 billion polyol plant took place recently. About 82.1 per cent of the joint venture will be owned by PTTGC, 14.9 per cent by SCI and 3 per cent by TTC.

The polyol plant will produce and distribute polyol, the raw material for high-quality urethane used in the automobile, electronics and electrical appliances and construction industries, and a PU system with annual capacity to produce polyol of 130,000 tonnes and a PU system of 20,000 tonnes. The plant’s construction will kick off this September.

PTTGC will search for raw materials – propylene oxide (PO) and ethylene oxide (EO) for polyol production, while SCI will transfer its production technology and polyol product development. TTC will give marketing support with distribution and logistics management in Asia. Yesterday, Krungthai Bank, Land & Houses Bank, Thanachart Bank and Kiatnakin Bank jointly signed to give financial assistance of Bt23.1 billion for the PO and Polyols and PU System project.

“If the project is completed and runs at full production capacity in two to three years, it is expected to generate income of around Bt10 billion per year for GC Polyols. That will make more the integrated petrochemical business,” said Patiparn Sukorndhaman, chairman for GC Polyols.

Supattanapong said that PTTGC has also been detailing joint investment for a project to produce high heat resistant polyamide-9T (PA9T) and hydrogenated styrenic Block copolymers (HSBC), mostly used in the auto parts industry, on expectation to finalise the investment value and sign a joint investment agreement early next year.

Previously, the company signed an initial agreement for the joint investment with Japanese leading firms Kuraray Co Ltd and Sumotomo Corporation, he said.

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