maverick
23-12-2007, 11:57 PM
Eastman Chemical is looking West.
The company is selling two factories in Europe, hoping to consolidate its production of a kind of plastic used to make beverage containers at a facility in Tennessee that uses coal instead of oil as the basic ingredient.
On Friday, Eastman Chemical said it would sell polyethylene terephthalate plants in Britain and the Netherlands to Indorama Group of Indonesia for approximately $330 million.
Eastman's shares shot up 2.0%, or $1.24, to $63.09, at the close on Friday.
Frank J. Mitsch, an analyst at BB&T Capital Markets, noted that Eastman has already sold three out of its five PET factories outside the United States, disposing of sites in Spain, Mexico, and Argentina. Mitsch said the company's goal was to turn its unprofitable PET division into a smaller unit spinning a profit margin of 10% by the second half of next year.
Eastman's PET resins, which had made up nearly a quarter of the company's sales before the divestitures, are facing pressure from rising capacity in the industry.
The company is selling two factories in Europe, hoping to consolidate its production of a kind of plastic used to make beverage containers at a facility in Tennessee that uses coal instead of oil as the basic ingredient.
On Friday, Eastman Chemical said it would sell polyethylene terephthalate plants in Britain and the Netherlands to Indorama Group of Indonesia for approximately $330 million.
Eastman's shares shot up 2.0%, or $1.24, to $63.09, at the close on Friday.
Frank J. Mitsch, an analyst at BB&T Capital Markets, noted that Eastman has already sold three out of its five PET factories outside the United States, disposing of sites in Spain, Mexico, and Argentina. Mitsch said the company's goal was to turn its unprofitable PET division into a smaller unit spinning a profit margin of 10% by the second half of next year.
Eastman's PET resins, which had made up nearly a quarter of the company's sales before the divestitures, are facing pressure from rising capacity in the industry.