Thailand's PTT Global Chemicals is actively engaged in the field of renewable chemicals in response to the Thai government's strategic objectives for the development of renewable chemicals. A series of recent investment activities have established a global image for participants in the field of bioplastics and renewable chemicals, and have also made it a pioneer in green technology in Asia. Since 2006, the Thai government has been devoting itself to the development of the bioplastics industry because it has the advantages of agricultural raw material resources, especially cassava and sugarcane. The current annual output of cassava and sugarcane in Thailand reaches 30 million tons and 80 million tons respectively. In October of this year, PTT Global Chemicals announced that it had invested US$150 million to acquire a 50% stake in polylactic acid (PLA) producer, NatureWorks, from Cargill, a US agricultural conglomerate. The company plans to build a new 300 million pounds per year (136,000 tons/year) PLA unit in Thailand and it is expected to start production at the end of 2015. In January this year, the company also invested US$60 million in American biosuccinic acid producer Melidet Technologies. Veerasak Kositpaisal, president of the company, stated: “Although our core business is in the petrochemical sector, we also hope to achieve development in green chemicals because green chemicals have a very good development prospect, especially in Thailand. We have sufficient and competitively priced agricultural raw materials.†The leader further pointed out: “We are considering the demand for bioplastics, the production capacity of agricultural resources, and raw material costs. We will give priority to the adoption of cassava, considering the actual situation in Thailand. And sugar cane as a raw material. At present these products are basically used for export. We plan to convert 10%~20% of the export volume into raw materials. We have already evaluated such projects and think that the prospects are very good." The National Innovation Agency of Thailand stated that Thailand is currently one of the three largest plastic exporting countries in Asia and it is also one of the largest resin producers in the world. In 2008, Thailand’s National Innovation Agency spent 1.8 billion baht (about US$58.5 million) on bioplastic innovation projects to support the government’s grand blueprint for the development of the bioplastics industry. Of these, 1 billion baht was used for the development of new technologies, 100 million baht for research and improvement of bioplastic materials, 475 million baht for industrial development, and 225 million baht for industrial standards. The Thai government has now established a good investment environment for the development of the bioplastics industry: For companies engaged in the bioplastics industry, corporate income tax can be exempted within eight years, and corporate income tax is halved for the next five years. It is understood that PTT Global Chemicals has been engaged in the development of a wide range of biobased chemicals business, not just bioplastics. The company's investment in Micron is a strategic entry point, not only accelerating the company's commercialization of biobased products in Southeast Asia, but also helping to increase the company's competitive advantage in the field of bio-based chemical manufacturing. Melant is currently building the first commercial biosuccinic acid unit in Louisiana, USA, which was partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Louisiana State Government. The designed capacity of the plant is 14,000 tons/year, and it is expected to be completed and put into operation by the end of 2012. The strategic cooperation with Mai Leite will help the company further expand the production of bio-based chemicals, such as succinic acid and its derivatives, butanediol, lactic acid and its derivatives, acrylic acid and fumaric acid. Steel Coil,Steel Coils,Galvanized Steel Coils,Galvanized Steel Coil,Coil Steel Shandong Rizhaoxin Metal Products Co., Ltd. , https://www.rizhaoxinsteel.com
PTT strives to be Asia's pioneer in renewable chemicals