MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC)'s net profit fell by 49% year on year to Thai baht (Bt) 3.25bn in the fourth quarter as petrochemicals output fell due to maintenance shutdowns, said the company.
For 2022, the company expects the recovery in downstream demand from external markets to continue supporting its aromatics as well as olefins and derivatives businesses throughout the year. The company's overall sales surged by 59% year on year to Bt139.3bn in the fourth quarter, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were up by 20%, PTTGC said in a statement.
PTTGC's overall sales in the fourth rose on the back of higher petroleum product prices which tracked the increase in the crude prices as well as a demand recovery from the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, it said. The company's petrochemical prices increased on tightening supply from maintenance shutdowns and a slowdown in production at some producers in the region, the company said.
The rise in feedstock prices weighed on the company's olefins and aromatics businesses in the fourth quarter, with EBITDA margins for both units falling in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with the same period in the previous year.
The adjusted EBITDA margin for the company's aromatics business fell to 5% in the fourth quarter from 3% in Q4 2020. The adjusted EBITDA margin for the olefins and derivatives unit fell sharply to 12% in the fourth quarter of 2021 from 23%. PTTGC expects its olefins plants utilization rate to be around 91% this year.
As per MRC, Thai PTTGC is planning a capital investment of USD608 million over five years, including two start-ups this year. PTTGC's joint venture with Austrian packaging and recycling company ALPLA, called ENVICCO Ltd, is expected to produce recycled polymers at Map Ta Phut in Rayong Province. The ENVICCO plant, which can produce 30,000 tons per year of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET) and 15,000 tons per year of recycled low-density polyethylene (R-HDPE), is expected to enter commercial operation in the first quarter of 2022.
PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) was founded on October 19, 2011 after the merger of PTT Chemical Company and PTT Aromatics and Refining Company to become the flagship of the PTT chemical group. As a result of the integration, the company's total capacity for the production of olefins and aromatics reached 8.2 million tons per year, and oil products - 280 thousand barrels per day, which makes it the largest integrated petrochemical and oil refining company not only in Thailand, but also in Asia.
MRC