PTT Global Chemical made a fourth-quarter net loss of Thai baht (Bt) 968m ($29m), with revenues down more than 10% due to a scheduled refinery shutdown and weak petrochemical demand that reduced product prices, said the Thailand-based producer.
Its polymers and chemicals business segmentrecorded adjusted earnings before interest, tax and depreciation (EBITDA) of Bt53m, 98% down year on year, while performance chemicals fared better over the period, logging a 10.2% year-on-year rise in earnings.
The company’s refinery was shut for most of October-December 2022, with the turnaround lasting 49 days, it said.
“The polymers market demand was under pressure mainly due to the zero-COVID policy in China, which led to lockdowns in many cities and impacted the slowdown in demand,” PTTGC said in a statement, adding that concerns about global recession also weighed down on the market.
“In addition, the inventory of buyers remains in a wait-and-see mode while the supply was adequate and increased from higher production in China, and imports from North America and the Middle East to Asia, despite some producers reducing their operating rates in this quarter,” it said.
For the whole of 2022, PTTGC made a net loss of Bt8.75bn, with chemicals' adjusted EBITDA falling 36% to Bt7.58bn.
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.
mrchub.com