INDORAMA BANKING ON LAST YEAR'S ACQUISITIONS

       Indorama Ventures(IVL) expects gains from acquisitions in Thailand and Europe last year following signs of recovery for purified terephthalic acid(PTA) in Asia after more than two years of a down cycle.
       IVL' s strategic acquisitions include Indorama Petrochemicals and TPT Petrochemicals. The group also acquired a PTA facility in Europe in April 2008.
       "The PTA business has started to pick up fater two years of a down cycle, and with the inherent potential of the industry, we expect IVL's major PTA acquistions over the past year or so to provide the impetus for meaningful addition to margins," said IVL chief executive Aloke Lohia.
       PTA marging in Asia have grown to US$218 (Bt7,400) per tonne, from $146 in 2007, despits expectations of an extended down cycle after the credit crisis.
       IVL, whose main initial business was polyethylene terephthalate(PET), started to shift its focus to a more vertically integrated model and therefore moved into the PTA business, leading to acquisitions of three PTA business, leading to acquisitions of three PTA plants last year with a combined capacity of 1.6 million tonnes.
       It is the parent company of Indorama Polymers, one of the world's leading PET producers.
       "The acquisitions were made because IVL wanted to have a secure feedstock for its PET business as PTA is the key component in production of PET. Additionally, the combined margins of PET and PTA add to more consistency and predictability to earnings and therefore improve the quality of our earnings for investors and stakeholders," Lohia said.
       IVL last year acquired Indorama Petrochem PTA, with annual capacity of 710,000 tonnes, and them TPT Petrochemicals PTA, with annual capacity of 550,000 tonnes. Both are located in Rayong Province.
       "Today, IVL has interests in PTA,PET and polyester assets, and these are very much interdependent on each other. The effective synergies among them indisputably enhance our operational efficiency," said Lohia.