Petrochem Industries plans to double polyester output

JAKARTA (JP): PT GT Petrochem Industries plans to almost double its capacity to produce polyester over the next three years and its capacity for nylon will rise 60 percent, its president said.

The company's president Fredy Gozali said here yesterday that the annual production of polyester would go up from 108,000 tons this year to 213,000 tons in 1999 and nylon from 56,000 tons to 84,000 tons next year.

He said the two products accounted for more than 60 percent of the total sales of the publicly listed company, which was a subsidiary of the Gajah Tunggal Group.

"Increasing the production of polyester and nylon would be the larger part of our expansion during the next three years," he said after the company's annual shareholders' meeting.

He said that this year the company would also increase the annual production of ethylene glycol from 96,000 tons to 216,000 tons a year.

The company is building a synthetic rubber plant, which is scheduled to start operating by 1998 with a production capacity of 60,000 tons a year.

The company will also build a caprolactam plant with a capacity of 120,000 tons a year and is scheduled to start operation by 2001.

Fredy did not say how much investment was needed for the expansion projects. But he said total investment for the caprolactam plant would be about $500 million.

He said that with the expansion, coupled with better market conditions, Petrochem expected to raise its net profit this year by about 164 percent from only Rp 53 billion last year to about Rp 140 billion. Its total sales would increase by 183 percent from Rp 256 billion last year to Rp 725 billion this year.

The company last year saw its net profit drop by about seven percent to Rp 53 billion, from Rp 60 billion in the previous year.

During the annual meeting, shareholders approved the management's plan to distribute a 1996 dividend of Rp 25 per share, totaling Rp 28 billion.

They also agreed to cut the nominal price of the company's shares from Rp 1,000 per share to Rp 500 per share. (bnt)