It has received regulatory clearance from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the proposed joint asset purchase of M&G USA Corp; it announced plans to acquire a PET recycling facility from Custom Polymers PET in Alabama, US and has entered into an agreement to acquire INVISTA Resins & Fibers, in Germany.
PET & PTA
The company announced in March last year it was partnering with Alpek and Far Eastern Investment, to acquire M&G’s Corpus Christi plant through Corpus Christi Polymers. The acquisition also includes certain M&G intellectual property, and a desalination/boiler plant.
The Corpus Christi plant will have nominal capacity of 1.1 million and 1.3 million metric tons per year of PET and PTA, respectively.
The three JV (joint venture) parties will each receive one-third of the capacity of PTA and PET produced. Each of the partners will procure raw materials independently, while also independently selling and distributing their corresponding PTA and PET.
The plant is the largest in North America with state of art technology and is a vertically integrated PTA-PET production facility.
“The FTC’s regulatory clearance represents an important milestone and a giant step towards serving the growing market needs of Recyclable PET for many years to come. With the approvals in place, we look forward to assist and fast track the construction and create hundreds of jobs to workers with this project,” said Aloke Lohia, Group CEO, IVL.
The agreement with Custom Polymers consists of two production lines; Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (rPET) Flake and food-grade rPET Pellets, with a combined capacity of 31,000 tons/annum.
The acquisition of this recycling facility from Custom Polymers will allow IVL to have a secured supply of rPET Flake and food-grade100% rPET Pellets in US, and this will open up new opportunities to meet the ever increasing food grade rPET demand for more sustainable packaging by brand owners.
The transaction with INVISTA Resins & Fibers, which owns a PET manufacturing facility in Gersthofen, Germany, has a combined capacity of 282,000 tons/annum, and is expected to be completed in Q1 2019.
Upon completion, IVL will own the intellectual property rights of Polyshield PET and Oxyclear barrier PET, Invista’s barrier technology, in all markets globally.
Polyshield PET and Oxyclear Barrier PET brands are known for their oxygen barrier packaging.
PET packaging with an oxygen barrier is mainly used by the food and beverage industry to protect oxygen-sensitive products, such as juice, wine, beer, dairy as well as ketchup, sauces and other condiments throughout their shelf life.
Barrier resins
Demand for barrier resins is expected to grow at a strong pace, driven by the improved shelf life of packaged food products, the increasing health and hygiene concerns and the emergence of new recyclable PET applications over traditional materials such as glass and aluminum cans.
“We see vast opportunities to grow the Polyshield PET and Oxyclear brands to their full potential, and reach existing and new customers around the world,” added Lohia.
"We are already capitalizing on opportunities in the US market through our existing Oxyclear Barrier PET license in the America’s.
"This strategic acquisition will evolve IVL to the next level of success by taking advantage of opportunities in global markets.”
IVL based in Thailand is a petrochemical producer with a global manufacturing footprint across Africa, Asia, Europe and Americas.
The company’s portfolio comprises Necessities and High Value-Added (HVA) categories of polymers, fibers, and packaging, selectively integrated with self-manufactured ethylene oxide/glycols and PTA.