PTT Group has denied a rumour its three subsidiaries — PTT Global Chemical Plc, IRPC Plc and Thai Oil Plc — will be merged, but stressed they need to improve their business operations.
Thailand’s biggest oil and gas business, 51% owned by the Ministry of Finance, is seeking partners who will be offered shares in the three companies as part of a restructuring, said Kongkrapan Intarajang, the PTT chief executive and president.
“PTT will continue to be a major shareholder in the three subsidiaries,” he said on Friday.
He did not reveal details of any new partnerships.
Mr Kongkrapan said the three companies would continue to carry out their own business plans to reach their revenue targets.
PTT Global Chemical and IRPC, the petrochemical arms of PTT, need to carefully and strategically operate their businesses amid an oversupply of petrochemical products in the global market, which is expected to continue this year, he said. The glut is attributed to more exports from the Middle East and China.
The latest round of the trade war between the US and China is believed to have nudged China to export more petrochemical products to Southeast Asia, said Mr Kongkrapan.
Paraxylene, a hydrocarbon-based feedstock for making various products including textiles, will face a supply glut, while olefins, another major feedstock in the petrochemical industry, should increase in price slightly this year, he said.
Olefins are used to produce everyday plastic products and demand remains strong, said Mr Kongkrapan.
PTT plans to allocate 55 billion baht for its investment and business operations between 2025 and 2029. Up to 25 billion baht is for this year, with the largest portion going to the gas business.
PTT wants to better manage purchases of raw materials and the distribution of finished products, saving 3.3 billion baht in costs this year, he said. The company also plans to adopt more digital technologies to reduce costs by 2 billion baht a year by 2026.
PTT has set a target to increase earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation by 30 billion baht by 2027, from 396 billion baht in 2024.
Last year the parent earned more than 3 trillion baht, down 1.7% year-on-year, attributed to lower product prices for its international trading business despite higher product sales, especially refined products and liquefied natural gas. PTT’s net profit was 90 billion baht, down 19.6%.