Australian PVC Producers Announce Joint Venture

21st May, 1997

ICI Australia and Auseon Limited today announced their intention to form a joint venture to unite their Australian vinyls (PVC) business under one banner.

A new company, Australian Vinyls Corporation Limited, will be formed by the merging of Auseon's manufacturing facilities at Altona and Mentone with ICI Australia's recently expanded Laverton operations and its Deer Park Compounding Facility, all in Victoria. The ICI shareholding will be 62.6% of the joint venture.

Mr Murray Winstanley, currently ICI's Vinyls division general manager, has been appointed managing director. "This joint venture is an exciting milestone for the industry," said Mr Winstanely. "It will enable us to offer an improved level of product and services to all Australian customers. It represents new opportunities for the business and for our employees," he said.

The chairman of Auseon, Mr Alan Castleman, and ICI Australia managing director, Mr Warren Haynes, welcomed the birth of the new entity.

"By combining our vinyls operations we can now realistically match the world players in both scale and technology," said Mr Castleman. "The synergies and cost efficiencies to be gained will place us in the soundest possible position to compete effectively against imports in the growing Australian vinyls markets."

Mr Haynes said the move is a logical strategic progression following ICI's recent rationalisation of its Botany and Laverton plants. "This is a further step in ensuring that we have a world competitive Australian vinyls business," he said. "It is completely compatible with our company-wide vision of matching increasingly tough world-scale competitors.

"Reduced tariffs and slow antidumping remedies have forced the chemical industry to take radical self-help action to ensure we have a healthy future," Mr Haynes said.

The current annual capacity of the Laverton plant is 140,000 tonnes and the Altona plant 93,000 tonnes.

Subject to regulatory approval, the joint venture is forecast to commence operation by the end of July.

Auseon is wholly owned by The Geon Company of Ohio, USA