BP acquires full ownership of chemical firm in Banten
Friday, March 7 2014 - 03:59 PM WIB
For over fifteen years, AMI was a 50/50 joint venture between BP and its partners, producing and marketing purified terephthalic acid (PTA) in Banten province.
With effect from March 1, AMI is a wholly owned subsidiary of the BP group. AMI has its head office in Jakarta, and a manufacturing site at Merak, Cilegon.
Nick Elmslie, Chief Executive of BP Global Petrochemicals, said: ?BP has a major, global PTA business, with operations in the USA, Europe and Asia, underpinned by advantaged technology. This transaction is consistent with our strategy to be a leading PTA player in the markets in which we choose to compete.?
Mark Wilson, President of BP?s Aromatics business in Asia, said: ?This is an efficient plant with a good market position in Indonesia, where domestic demand for PTA has been growing at around 6% over the last few years. This deal allows us to assess future opportunities to lower the cost of the production facilities by upgrading to our latest technology as well as opportunities for expansion in the Indonesian market.?
AMI will continue to serve the Indonesian PTA market. BP?s other businesses in Indonesia are unaffected by this transaction.
AMI?s PTA plant, commissioned in 1997, has nameplate production capacity of 525,000 tons per year.
BP?s current net global PTA capacity is 7.1 million tons per year (mtpa) from seven sites in the US (2), Belgium, China, Indonesia, and Taiwan (2). The largest is at Zhuhai, China where expansion of its current capacity of 1.5mtpa is expected to add a further 1.25mtpa during 2014, making it one of the world?s largest PTA manufacturing sites.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon