Thai PET producer Indorama Ventures (IVL, Bangkok; www.indorama.net) has recorded a reported post-tax profit of THB 6.6 bn (EUR 170m) in 2015, compared with THB 1.6 bn in 2014, as high value added products gained in importance and accounted for 48% of operating profit in the year. Sales fell by 3% to THB 236 bn as pricing was affected by lower crude oil costs. Total production increased by 12% year-on-year to 7m t. The company added that high value added products have proved to be a valuable investment that offers significant potential in areas involving environmental awareness, performance, health and safety.

IVL saw a tax adjusted non-cash inventory devaluation of THB 2.3 bn as a result of a rapid fall in prices. This was offset by net extraordinary income of THB 2.4 bn primarily coming from gains on completed acquisitions.

The company completed six acquisitions in 2015, including the PET plant built by Polyplex (Gautam Budh Nagar / India; www.polyplex.com) in Corlu / Turkey (see Plasteurope.com of 12.01.2015); PET polymers producer Bangkok Polyester (see Plasteurope.com of 23.03.2015); the PET assets and Canadian PTA plant of Cepsa (Madrid / Spain; www.cepsa.com) (see Plasteurope.com of 17.11.2015 and 08.06.2015) and Micro Polypet (MicroPet, New Delhi / India; www.mpet.co.in) (see Plasteurope.com of 05.01.2016).

An additional two acquisition agreements are expected to be closed in the second quarter of 2016 – including the PX and PTA plants operated by energy and petrochemicals giant BP (London / UK; www.bp.com) in Decatur, Alabama / USA (see Plasteurope.com of 08.01.2016).