Petrochemical Holding and Indorama have announced new PET production capacity

Petrochemical Holding and Indorama have announced new PET production capacity

A little known Austrian company, Petrochemical Holding, is growing its presence in the east European PET market with news of its second plant to be built in the Baltic state.

The company has signed a contract with Zimmer for a 154,000 tonnes a year plant to be built at Klaipeda, with start up scheduled in the second half of 2005.

The unit doubles the size of the facility already being planned at the site by the Vienna-based investment group which announced its first line, also to be built by Zimmer, last autumn.

A letter of intent for a third plant in the same region between the two companies was also signed last month. Petrochemical Holding will become one of eastern Europe’s largest PET granule makers as a result of the expansions.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Indorama group is also planning new PET capacity in Lithuania, which is one of the new EU accession states. The capacity of this unit is thought to be over 150,000 tonnes a year. The area is well placed to serve the west Russian market.