Eastman Boosts PET Sales Capacity
ATLANTA (Sept. 18, 2000)—Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) announced today it has taken another step to enhance its position as the worldwide leader in PET for packaging. The company will boost its PET sales capacity by 110,000 metric tons per year through contract manufacturing agreements with TIEPET, Inc. in the U.S.; PT. Polypet Karyapersada (Polypet) in Indonesia; and Bangkok Polyester Company (BPC) in Thailand.
Using existing capacities, the companies will manufacture PET resins according to Eastman specifications under long-term contracts, and Eastman will market the new products. While not disclosing details of the agreements, Eastman officials say they plan to market the sales capacity through the company’s global presence.
"We are proud to provide Eastman resins through utilization of existing PET capacity," said T.A. Smith, vice-president and general manager of Eastman’s container plastics business. "Eastman is dedicated to providing solutions to meet our customers' growth needs, and we will continue to look for other alliances that offer business solutions to the industry."
Polypet and BPC will produce Eastapak A12 resin, and sample quantities are available in Latin America and Southeast Asia. The first commercial product produced by TIEPET is Eastapak CM01 resin, and sample quantities will be available in North America in October. Evaluations in Eastman's lab show these products are suitable for use in beverage, food and edible oil containers.
"We are extremely pleased to form this alliance with Eastman and be part of their strategic commitment to global growth and innovation. TIEPET believes that creative alliances such as these are the future of the PET industry and that in establishing this relationship, Eastman has shown that it is indeed the market leader," said P.D. Prabhu, president of TIEPET. "Our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Asheboro, N.C., along with a dedicated workforce, will allow us to manufacture products with the performance and reliability that Eastman customers demand."
Eastman has instituted ongoing quality assurance procedures with the contract manufacturing operations to ensure consistency of the new products. "These companies have world-class production facilities and will manufacture products to meet Eastman specifications," said Smith.
"Polypet is very pleased to work with Eastman, the largest PET manufacturer in the world," said Barnabas Boentoro, commercial director of Polypet. "This will be a mutually-beneficial alliance to capture growing opportunities in the global PET market."
When combined with Eastman’s current PET manufacturing capacity of 1.5 million metric tons, these alliances bring the total sales capacity to 1.6 million metric tons.
Headquartered in Kingsport, Eastman manufactures and markets plastics, chemicals and fibers. Eastman employs approximately 15,000 people in more than 30 countries and had 1999 sales of $4.59 billion.
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