$2 Billion Consumer Plastics Packaging Segment Set for Shake-Up as Oman Company Enters Polyester Market with $300 Million Investment

$2 Billion Consumer Plastics Packaging Segment Set for Shake-Up as Oman Company Enters Polyester Market with $300 Million Investment

September 17, 2007

    MUSCAT, Oman, CINCINNATI, and LONDON, Sept. 17
/Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- An Oman-based company, Octal Holding
and Co. SAOC (http://www.octalglobal.com), is poised to
shake up the clear rigid plastic packaging industry, with
an integrated PET resin and APET sheet manufacturing
facility coming on stream in May 2008. 

    Octal's announcement, made in Cincinnati at the 17th
Annual SPE Thermoforming Conference underway at the Duke
Energy Convention Center, booth 135, is in response to
clear growth trends for convenience food packaging and the
increased use of clear rigid packaging for consumer
products. 

    "Growth of APET as a packaging material has been
strong," said William J. 'Joe' Barenberg, chief
operating officer of Octal based out of the company's
global sales center in Dallas, Texas. "But lack of
reliable capacity and inefficiencies in the manufacturing
and logistics of delivering the finished package, have held
its growth well below potential.

    "Our value proposition is to deliver the highest
quality and most consistent APET sheet to our
thermoforming, brand and retailer partners to enable them
to achieve the highest level of productivity and yield.
This will dramatically improve the economics of APET clear
rigid packaging and facilitate conversion to APET in
applications where it is the best material choice, but
where economics had previously precluded its use."

    Octal, which started initial operations in December
2006, has been delivering superior quality APET sheet with
improved gauge control that can reduce a thermoformer's raw
material costs and increase its productivity.  When gauge is
held to less than one percent variation, packaging
manufacturers know exactly how many trays they will produce
per metric ton of APET sheet.  "That also means that
they don't have to worry about unpredictable thin spots,
making it possible to further reduce the sheet's gauge to
save cost," said Mr. Barenberg.  "Taken together,
this can mean savings from three to eight percent." 

    State-of-the-art customized equipment used by Octal
ensures rolls of sheet are usable from the outer layer all
the way to the core.  The end result is an APET sheet with
superior gauge control, gloss and transparency, providing
more rapid cycle times, higher yields, better end tray
quality and lower cost.  

    The company's plant is the first to be developed that
is dedicated fully to APET production from resin to sheet. 
This is in contrast to the existing state of the industry,
where resin engineered primarily for beverage bottles, is
also used for thermoforming.

    With its plant adjacent to Salalah Port in Salalah,
Oman, Octal is ideally located on the east-west trade
routes, resulting in fast and efficient global
distribution.  Deliveries of APET sheet can be made to
virtually any port in the world within 12 to 18 days. 
Distribution, sales and customer service operations are
located in the United States, Europe and Asia.

    Octal initially entered the market in late 2006 with
20,000 metric tons of capacity.  An additional 10,000
metric tons are scheduled to come on stream in September
2007.  This will be followed in May 2008 by a new twin PET
resin and APET sheet complex, providing an additional
300,000 metric tons of APET sheet-making capacity.  At that
stage, Octal will be five times larger than the next
merchant producer of APET sheet and the largest PET
manufacturer in the Gulf region. Octal is investing over
$300 million in its proprietary technology and custom
engineered production lines to manufacture both PET resin
and APET rigid films.  This capacity represents nearly 20
percent of the total industry output of APET sheet, and
provides manufacturers with assured supply so they can
convert their complete packaging production.

    "Our entire process -- from raw materials to
finished APET sheet rolls -- has been designed with the
thermoformer in mind," said Mr. Barenberg. "Our
strategy is to rationalize the production process, provide
cost-efficiencies for thermoformers and packagers, and a
sheet that delivers the most aesthetically appealing
package possible.  Our approach addresses the longstanding
deficiencies that have hampered the large-scale expansion
of APET as a packaging substrate.  By mid-2008, Octal will
have sales of $500 million per annum as a base from which
to double capacity within 20 months."

    Octal's focus on APET sheet responds to converging
global trends of consumer lifestyles that increasingly
demand convenience packaging and the industry's growing
need for increased scale and improved economics.  APET
sheet is the fastest growing material for the clear rigid
plastic packaging of food and consumer products.  It is
processed by thermoformers and brands, with the majority of
the resulting clear plastic trays used for packaging fresh
foods and dairy products, where its oxygen barrier
properties make it an ideal and natural first choice.  It
is also making rapid inroads into the cold drink cup
market. The remainder is used for the packaging of fast
moving consumer products such as toys, electronics, and
hardware.  APET is replacing PVC and styrenic polymers,
favored for new applications where its clarity, gloss and
mechanical toughness make it an ideal material for goods
that require from both product protection and shelf impact.
 

    Worldwide demand for APET produced total sales of
approximately $2.25 billion in 2006.  The timing of Octal's
substantial and continuing investment schedule matches the
growing demand for this material, and it is hardly
surprising that the company is confident of success.

    John Maxwell, vice president of sales for Octal, added:
"Our thermoforming customers need a supplier who
becomes a technical asset in helping them to reduce costs
and to support innovation. Octal delivers a product that
allows them to be more innovative in both design and
reducing costs."

    Commenting on the company's commitment to becoming a
global provider, Mr. Barenberg added:  "Packagers,
whether single location or global, need a partner who is
well matched to their own footprint -- a supplier who, with
one call, provides both a product and service solution to
one location or to multiple locations worldwide. At a time
when APET packaging is taking share from other polymers,
ours is the only company making such a substantial
investment in support of APET.  As a high quality producer
in a rapidly expanding industry, we are confident of our
role in supporting large scale packaging users in their
global initiatives and growth ambitions."

    For product and sales information, contact
[e-mail]; or call [phone].	

    Octal Holding SAOC (http://www.octalglobal.com),
established in 2006, is rapidly becoming the world's
largest producer of APET sheet, delivering to brands and
the packaging industry superior gauge control, gloss and
transparency for rigid plastic packages.  The company is
setting the standard in APET packaging through its patented
technology and proprietary processes, featuring the tightest
caliper control and tolerances in the industry.  Octal's
APET sheet provides more rapid cycle times, higher yield,
better end tray quality and lower cost.  With
state-of-the-art manufacturing based in the Middle East,
Octal has sales and customer support operations in the
United States, Europe and Asia.  


    For more information, please contact:

    KCSA Worldwide in North America

     Christa Conte
     Phone: [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Henry Feintuch
     Phone: [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

    PIELLE Consulting in Europe

     Jonquil Simons
     Phone: [phone]

     Holly Linnell 
     Phone: [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]