Siam Cement to invest in $4.5 bln Vietnam petchem complex

News/BANGKOK, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Siam Cement Pcl, Thailand's top industrial conglomerate, said on Thursday the Siam group has signed a deal with partners under which it will take a 46 percent stake in a US$4.5 billion petrochemical complex in Vietnam.

In a statement filed with the Thai stock exchange, Siam Cement, 30 percent owned by the Thai royal family's Crown Property Bureau, said full details of its investment in the project and how to finance it will be finalised in 2013.

Siam Cement will hold a 28 percent stake in the project, while its unit, Thai Plastics and Chemical Pcl, will hold another 18 percent.

The remaining stakes will be held by QPI Vietnam, a subsidiary of Qatar Petroleum International (QPI), Vietnam state oil monopoly Petrovietnam and Vietnam National Chemical Corp (Vinachem). Commercial operations are expected to start within four years, Siam Cement said.

The project, delayed by the global economic crisis since 2009, is a major step for Siam Cement towards expanding its foreign business in the fast-growing Southeast Asian region.

The complex would serve as a springboard for import substitution, value-added industries and as a vehicle to capture growth in ASEAN for Vietnam, Siam Cement Chief Executive Kan Trakulhoon said in a statement.

ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Regional expansion

The fully-integrated complex, located on Long Son island at Ba Ria-Vung Tau province in southern Vietnam, will have annual capacity to produce 1.4 million tonnes olefins and use ethane, propane and naphtha as feedstock.

It will consist of storage facilities, port, jetty, power plant and other utilities, and most of its downstream petrochemical products would be consumed by the domestic market in Vietnam, Siam Cement said. QPI will supply feedstock to the olefins cracker.

With limited growth at home, Siam Cement is looking for opportunity to buy assets overseas as part of regional expansion ahead of an economic integration of ASEAN in 2015.

Last year, Siam Cement agreed to buy 30 percent of Indonesia's Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk for $442 million.

Siam Cement has also said it wanted to buy Sulfindo Adiusaha, a chemical producer controlled by Indonesia's Tanojo family, in that could be worth about $700 million.

At 0926 GMT, Siam Cement shares were up 0.8 percent, while the broad index was 0.05 percent lower. ($1 = $0.76 baht)