BIG INVESTORS SEEK WAYS TO MITIGATE PAIN OF INJUNCTION

       Petrochemical companies are brainstorming to ease difficulties arising from the Central Administrative Court's injunction against 76 industrial projects, while the government has not yet filed an appeal to allow the projects to proceed.
       PTT chief financial officer Tevin Vongvanich said yesterday that the brainstorming session would also involve Siam Cement Group and the Federation of Thai Industries.
       "If the court does not accept the government's appeal, we as sufferers may ask the court for relaxation," he said.
       Surayuth Phettrakul, vice industry minister, said the Attorney-General's Office was completing the appeal, which could be submitted to the court today - or Monday at the latest.
       He said the Industry Ministry wanted to be thorough, but would do its best to file the appeal, or the ruling would further affect investor confidence.
       Executives of PTT and its subsidiaries yesterday expressed grave concern over the delay of their 25 projects - planned by eight companies and with a combined investment of Bt120 billion - particularly the sixth gas-separation plant and the project to meet the Euro IV emission standard.
       Most of the projects are slated for completion from late this year through to 2012.
       PTT president and CEO Prasert Bunsumpun said the injunction affected confidence, job creation and the pace of industrial development, as well as the overall economy.
       He insisted the group had done its very best to cooperate in controlling pollution in Rayong and had taken into account local communities' demands. He expects a win-win solution for all parties.
       To Tevin, the delay in the gas-separation plant, which is 90 per cent completed and waiting for an operating licence, will have a negative supply-chain effect on subsidiaries and creditors aside from delaying jobs related to the projects.
       Some subsidiaries, which are waiting for raw materials, would need to import the items instead.
       Meanwhile, the Euro IV project delay could prevent the group's refinery from meeting the 2012 deadline as prescribed by the Energy Ministry.
       As key subsidiaries like PTT Chemical and PTT Aromatics and Refining could be financially affected, the group may need to review their value and conclude its planned consolidation later than this month's original schedule, Tevin said.
       Chainoi Puankosoom, CEO of PTT Aromatics and Refining, said he would call for a meeting with refiners next week for a consensus in delaying the Euro IV deadline.
       The company's environment-upgrade project is slated for completion in December 2011, but the injunction means the project would never be able to meet the deadline.
       Stock analysts have revised down the earnings forecasts for listed companies that are affected by the order, particularly PTT Chemical and Siam Cement.
       According to Asia Plus Securities, on assumption that commercial operation would be delayed by a year, PTT Chemical is expected to be affected the most, with a 35-per-cent drop in its 2010 earnings projection. Siam Cement's earnings projection has been cut by 11 per cent.
       Veerasak Kositpaisal, president of PTT Chemical, which has eight of the projects, worth a combined Bt13 billion, said petrochemical prices were changing rapidly and this required fast adjustment. "Thailand's plastic-product export value is now Bt90 billion, against a Bt120-billion value for plastic-pellet exports. What we're doing now is to produce more added-value products, which could push the combined export value above Bt300 billion," he said.
       Veteran investment banker Kongkiat Opaswongkarn also urged speedy action on the government, saying that the injunction would damage the country's image and may affect its credit rating. He said it was a very critical issue, as the ruling went against Thailand's policy to attract investment and this confirmed the country's management failure over the past three years.
       Srisuwan Chanya, president of the Anti-Global Warming Association, which is one of the plaintiffs in the case against government units that led to the injunction, said the association would lodge a counter-appeal against the government's appeal as soon as the latter was filed. He said the government should instead speed up the establishment of an independent environment body and issue health-impact assessment guidelines.
       In the next two weeks, the group is also filing a charge against Industry Minister Charnchai Chairungrueng for putting only eight industries on the ministry's list of projects with serious impacts, against the proposed list of 19.