PAKISTAN: ICI signs loan agreement for PTA plant

26 April 1996
NEWS

ICI Pakistan has signed an agreement for a $171.2 million loan to finance the construction of a purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant to be built in Port Qasim. The loan was arranged by HSBC Investment Bank and will be covered for sovereign risk by the UK's Export Credits Guarantee Department. The lenders are Midiand Bank, ANZ GrindJays Bank, Citibank International, ABN AMRO, Standard Chartered Bank and Emirates Bank International. The loan agreement represents more than 85 per cent of the foreign currency debt financing for the project.

A further Rs 1,000 million ($28.9 million) is to be raised as redeemable capital in the form of term finance certificates. The issue is to be organised by Citicorp Investment Bank and will include an initial placement followed by a public offering. The financing of the plant will also include an equity element. ICI of the UK has a 61.5 per cent equity stake in ICI Pakistan, with the remainder of the company being locally owned.

The plant. Pakistan's first, will produce 400,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of PTA to serve as feedstock for the local manufacture of polyester fibre. It is anticipated that surplus amounts will be available for export. Total costs are estimated at $450 million. The local al Dewan Mushtaq is also building a PTA plant with a capacity of 450,000 t/y at an estimated cost of $400 million (MEED 22 3:96).

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