"So, we are collaborating with our partners to establish a joint venture."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina, has predicted that petrochemical sales will increase by 500 thousand tonnes in domestic and regional markets in 2013.

Pertamina`s Marketing and Commercial Director, Hanung Budaya, said the additional petrochemical product sales of 500 thousand tonnes will be carried out by a firm, which will be formed in collaboration with Pertamina`s business partners.

"The joint venture will increase the sale of the products, once it is established in July 2013," said Hanung.

Hanung believes that before Pertamina`s petrochemical plants are operational in 2017, the company will be able to supply petrochemical products, particularly to the domestic market.

"So, we are collaborating with our partners to establish a joint venture," he said.

Therefore, the selected partner should have petrochemical products that are competitive and of good quality. It should also have the relevant technical support, he said.

"Pertamina`s petrochemical plants` products are still limited. So, we are hoping that through this collaboration, we will be able to expand our product range," he added.

Last week, Pertamina signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with three multinational petrochemical companies: SK Global Chemical, PTT Global Chemical and Mitsubishi Corporation.

The MoU is aimed at developing a petrochemical plant, with a capacity of one million tonnes per annum, and an estimated investment of Rp48 trillion (around five billion US dollars).

In April 2013, Pertamina will appoint one of the three partners as a partner in the development of a petrochemical plant, which will begin its operations in 2017.

The chemical plant will produce 250 thousand tonnes of ethylene every year, 400 thousand tonnes of polyethylene, 350 thousand tonnes of polypropylene and 200 thousand tonnes of PVC.

Before the plant is operational in 2017, Pertamina and its selected partner will work together to promote the petrochemical products in the domestic and regional markets.

Partamina hopes to own at least a 51 percent stake in the joint venture.

At present, the domestic petrochemical market is dominated by imported products, with an estimated value of about five billion US dollars per annum.

Currently, Pertamina has a market share of 10 percent.

Once the plant becomes operational in 2017, Pertamina hopes to have a market share of 30 percent (worth around 9 billion US dollars).

In the next stage, Pertamina plans to control 80 percent of the market by 2025.
(Uu.A014/INE/KR-BSR/B003)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2012