PETpla.net Insider 11+12 / 2017

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 11+12/17 www.petpla.net 10 Tour Sponsors: Thailand’s PET giant by Kay Barton At the beginning of 2009, PETplanet’s editor Michael Maruschke went to meet the management of Indorama Ventures’ subsidiary, Indorama Polymers, a materials manufacturer and processor at its Lopburi plant in Thailand (see PETplanet Insider 08/2009). Since then, the company has become the world’s largest PET manufacturer, having increased its material production rate more than tenfold, as well as significantly extending its influence to 24 countries. The company’s average growth rate of core EBITDA over the past five years has been 18% per annum while its production output has grown 14% on average per annum, which puts Indorama Ventures ahead of its global competitors such as Alpek, JBF and Formosa internationally. During the South East Asia Roadshow, we readily accepted an invitation from Mr Vipin Kumar, Senior Vice President, Asia PET Business at Indorama Ventures, to discuss the current state of play and entrepreneurial challenges with his management team, with particular emphasis on the Thailand market. Indorama Ventures Public Company Ltd., June 19/20, 2017 We met: Mr Vipin Kumar, Senior Vice President, Asia PET Business, Indorama Ventures Global Services Ltd. Mr Sunil Marwah, Senior Vice President, Packaging Business Mr Krishnaswamy Chandrasekar, Vice President Manufacturing, Indorama Polymers Public Company Ltd. Mr Nitin B Bopardikar, Senior Vice President Manufacturing Head (Asia), Indorama Polymers Public Company Ltd. Mr Govind K. Narkar, Joint Vice President Operations, Petform (Thailand) Ltd. Mr Weerasawat Chindanon, Sales and Marketing Assistant Vice President, Thailand Depending on the traffic, it takes around two to two and a half hours to travel the 120km from Bangkok to the Lopburi plant where Indorama Ventures manages one of its count- less materials manufacturing sites, Indorama Polymers Public, as well as Petform processing. 2003 and 2010 through acquisitions, site constructions and expansions which included the USA, Lithuania, the Netherlands and the UK. In addi- tion, purified terephthalic acid (PTA) assets were added to the portfolio. Between 2010 and 2014, additional sites were established, mainly in growth markets in Africa, North Amer- ica, Europe and Asia, with a focus on R&D and HVA products. Furthermore, production of monoethylene glycol (MEG) was integrated within its opera- tions in North America. Since 2015, Indorama Ventures has been con- centrating its efforts on sustainability, increased vertical integration to fur- ther optimise the value-added chain, as well as continuing to enhance their global know-how through more world- wide takeovers. Indorama Ventures currently has 70 manufacturing sites on four continents, including 31 PET material production plants in 16 coun- tries, seven of which are being further developed. Comparative figures from 2007 and 2016 show that the company increased its total materials output from 0.7 to 10.5 million tons, its work- force from 2,000 to around 15,000 employees and pre-tax profits from US$76 million to US$775 million. Their current client base includes Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestlé, Danone, Suntory, Kirin, Asahi, ThaiBev, Oishi, Guinness, Procter and Gamble, Unile- ver, Zara, Bayer, BMW, Bridgestone, 3M, General Motors and Volkswagen. For PET in particular, the Company has around 800 Asian clients, with 150 in North America, 50 in Africa and a further 200 in Europe. In 2016, F.r.t.l.: Govind K. Narkar, Krishnaswamy Chandrasekar, Nitin B Bopardikar, Vipin Kumar and Kay Barton A brief outline of the company’s history. The company began oper- ating in Thailand in 1995 and from here achieved world leader status in its field. In the years up to 2003, it worked exclusively in PET and polyester production before strategic overseas markets opened up between