Thailand's IRPC Pcl, operator of Southeast Asia's biggest integrated petrochemical complex, said on Wednesday it planned to expand propylene capacity by 58 percent by 2014.

IRPC, 37 percent-owned by Thailand's top energy firm PTT Pcl, would seek approval this month to go ahead with plans to expand annual capacity of propylene by 160,000 tonnes, Chief Executive Pailin Chuchottaworn told reporters.

The construction of a new propylene plant was expected to be completed by 2014, he said, and this would be on top of a previously announced "de-bottlenecking" expansion that would raise its propylene capacity by 100,000 tonnes a year in 2012.

He expected the project would need several millions of dollars for investment. Propylene is widely used in the manufacture of plastics.

"The new plant will enable us to produce more value-added products," Pailin said, adding its 215,000 barrel-per-day refinery should run fully to supply feedstock to petrochemical plants.

IRPC produces 450,000 tonnes of propylene a year and its annual capacity would rise to 710,000 tonnes by 2014, he said.

The propylene expansion projects were part of the company's plan to develop high-grade plastics, which offered a margin of over 10 percent, Pailin said.

IRPC runs a petrochemical complex with annual capacity of 728,000 tonnes of olefins products, including ethylene and propylene, and 367,000 tonnes of aromatics. The petrochemical business contributed more than 50 percent of profit last year.

IRPC, formerly Thai Petrochemical Industry, was Thailand's largest corporate debt defaulter after collapsing under a mountain of foreign debt in the 1997/1998 Asian economic crisis. It has focused on improving efficiency and cutting costs since it completed a $2.7 billion debt restructuring in 2006.

On Wednesday, IRPC shares closed up 7.8 percent, outperforming a 1.25 percent rise in the broader index .SETI. ($1 = 30.02 Baht)

source:Reuters