Lotte Pakistan PTA Ltd. (LOTPTA), a producer of pure terephthalic acid (PTA), is upgrading its plant to trim costs.
LOTPTA Chief Executive Officer Asif Saad said the company launched commercial operations of a US$ 50 million power plant in July this year, and it is now planning to upgrade its machinery, Bloomberg reported.
Following modernization, the power plant is would reduce the company’s energy costs to half, Mr. Asif said.
Consolidated net earnings of LOTPTA, a subsidiary of South Korea based Lotte Group, declined to Pk Rs. 47.4 million or US$ 495,000 in third quarter of the current year, registering a year-on-year fall of 95 percent.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2012, the company registered a net loss of Rs. 247 million, compared with Rs. 4.6 billion profit registered during the same period last year.
Mr. Saad said 2012 has not proved to be a good year for the company, but one has to accept that PTA is a cyclical commodity business and they are currently passing through a down cycle.
PTA produced by the LOTPTA is used to produce polyester staple fibre, which finds utility in production of clothes.