IRPC TO ADD VALUE TO LAND RESOURCES

       IRPC, a unit of PTT Group, will focus on adding value not only to its core petrochemical business but also to its spare land over the next five years.
       CEO Pailin Chuchottaworn said yesterday that the company's 2010-2014 investment plan was aimed at its becoming a top integrated petrochemical complex in Asia, which could be achieved through greater exploitation of its existing assets and resources.
       The company will continue developing and maximising its four core businesses - petrochemical, refinery, port and product inventory, and property - to boost revenue and profit, he said.
       The company will further improve the production capacity of the petrochemical business and its product quality as well as invest more on developing new and high-yielding products.
       The company owns 15,000 rai of land nationwide, but only 3,000 rai are fully utilised.
The idle 12,000 rai will be developed to generate further income.
       Of the total, 1,200 rai are located close to its petrochemical complex in Rayong, 3,800 rai in a different location in the province and 2,800 rai in Songkhla.
       "There are many options to maximise land assets and the most likely one is we will seek a partner to jointly develop projects on them, such as renewable-energy production," he said.
       The fastest ways to make money from land are by selling or renting parcels or planting energy fuel crops on them, he said.
       If all the business targets go as planned, the company should earn as much as 23 per cent on investment capital in five years, up from the present 8-9 per cent.
       The company has budgeted US$1.2 billion (Bt41 billion) for investment in the next five years, mostly on 16 new projects.
       One of them is the expansion of propylene production capacity to 412,000 tonnes per year from the current 312,000 level, which is expected to cost $88 million.
       However, IRPC might revise its previously planned projects, such as the upgrade of the refinery to meet the Euro 4 standard and the expansion of ABS/SAN plastic production capacity.
       "We'll make a decision this year on whether to implement the projects," he said.
       IRPC will definitely cancel the plan to boost refining capacity to 258,000 barrels per day from the present 215,000 barrels.
       The refinery will mainly serve the petrochemical business, not the retail oil business, Pailin said.