Octal secures US$296m loan for PET expansion
Canadian Plastics
Economy Packaging Flexible Packaging Plastics Industry Economic Changes/ForecastPackaging producer Octal has secured a US$296 million loan to complete its second expansion phase - a development the company says will make it the world's largest producer of PET resins on one site and the largest PET manufacturer in the world.
Packaging producer Octal has secured a US$296 million loan to complete its second expansion phase – a development the company says will make it the world’s largest producer of PET resins on one site and the largest PET manufacturer in the world.
Phase two of the plan will be commissioned from June 2012 and will add an additional 527,000 metric tons of production at Octal’s PET resins and sheet packaging complex in Salalah, Oman.
The 400,000 metric ton facility was opened by the company in January 2009.
According to a press release, Octal secured the senior term loan from a group comprising Bank Muscat, Bank Dhofar, National Bank of Oman, Bank Sohar, Ahli Bank and Qatar National Bank. Existing shareholders Muscat Overseas and Oman & Emirates Investment Holding Company have also agreed a junior debt facility of US$15 million.
“Despite the challenges of the global downturn, OCTAL has delivered on its promises and raised nearly US$400 million in 2009 and 2010. The fact that the region’s financial community is again investing in our business reflects their confidence in our operations and ability to realise ambitious growth,” said Nicholas P. Barakat, Octal’s managing director. “Octal is already the world’s largest producer of PET sheet. Phase two will make us the biggest manufacturer of PET resin on a single site anywhere in the world. Octal doubled its earnings in 2010 and we expect to do so again this year.”
According Barakat, the completion of its second phase of expansion will put the company “well on the way” to achieving US$1.5 billion in annual sales by 2012, as it converts new PET sheet applications for products such as yogurt, meat and cheese.
The privately-owned company’s international office network currently spans the UK, Germany, China, Oman and the U.S., with an additional customer support office planned to open in Europe in 2011,