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Pakistan - No negative impact of PTA duty on textile exports [ 07 Jun, 2008]
Pakistan PTA Limited has said that heavy infrastructure costs incurred by it have clearly negated any tariff concessions provided to it and that there is no negative impact of the duty component of PTA on Pakistan's textile exports, says a press release.
The prices of PTA in Pakistan are benchmarked with international price indexes such as ICIS-LOR, Platts etc, ensuring prices in Pakistan are determined by market forces and at par with the international prices giving liberty to the customer to switch to imported products if desired, the release said.
An investment-friendly and progressive tariff regime was provided to Pakistan PTA Limited at the time of establishment of its plant with the express purpose of compensating the heavy infrastructure costs that the company had to bear. Both India and China, despite their scale of operations, are still providing protection to their PTA industry, which currently stands at 10 percent in India and 6.5 percent in China.
Despite this protection, the textile industry of these countries continues to boom indicating other factors contributing to their prosperity, it added. The company has invested $490 million which includes investment in the plant, $35 million in a raw water pipeline, $45 million in duties on plant and machinery, $15 million in electric connectivity, $44 million in a high tech effluent treatment plant and investment in highly expensive third party contracts to set up a chemical jetty and industrial gases plant which will cost the company approximately $250 million in 15 years.
Most of these costs are specific to Pakistan due to lack of the infrastructure available hence increasing the cost of plant as compared to other countries. Capital expenditure on non-operational infrastructure and facilities has adversely impacted the company with accumulated loss of Rs 9.32 billion as on December 31, 2007. The original equity of Rs 15.1 billion has now been reduced to Rs 5.83 billion.
Source: Business Recorder
BP: Force majeure for PTA from Geel [ 21 May, 2008]
BP has declared force majeure on supplies of PTA from its production site at Geel / Belgium, due to a strike that began on 14 May 2008. A company spokesman told PIE that both plants for the PET feedstock, with capacity to produce more than 1m t/y, are affected by the industrial action and that it has placed a 40% allocation on May deliveries.
A group of 71 employees is resisting the consolidation of two control rooms into one, following a recent capacity expansion.
Source: Plastics Information Europe
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