The rise came despite a drop in sales by 4 per cent year on year as chemical prices fell in tandem with oil prices.

SCG’s profit for the first half of the year soared 18 per cent to Bt29.51 billion.

Its cement and building-materials businesses continued to underperform, with second-quarter profit slipping 15 per cent to Bt2.48 billion on a 6-per-cent decrease in sales to Bt42.98 billion.

After growing by 5 per cent in the first quarter, cement demand in the second quarter softened by 3 per cent.

Roongrote Rangsiyopash, president and chief executive officer of the group, said yesterday that even though there were many government projects coming up, weaker demand from the private sector had resulted in lower cement consumption in the quarter.

SCG now expects cement demand to end the year up 1 per cent, the same rate as the first half, versus flat sales last year.

“Although in the second quarter there were many more public investment projects, investment and expenditures of the private sector were still small.

But we expect the outlook for the first half of next year to improve,” he said.

The chemical business would stay in its upcycle for two or three more years.

“Then our expansion in Asean should start to yield results,” Roongrote said.

Substitute for loss

“Both Asean and HVA [high-value-added products] should substitute for what we will lose from the [end of the upward] cycle of chemicals.”

He noted that SCG had invested billions of baht every year in HVA products.

Sales from SCG’s production bases in other Asean countries climbed 20 per cent to Bt13.16 billion in the second quarter.

SCG expects to begin production at its first cement factory in Myanmar this quarter, its packaging-paper project in Vietnam by the end of this year and its cement plant in Laos early next year.

The group recently commenced its first cement factory in Indonesia and its second plant in Cambodia, as well as an expansion project of its 30-per-cent0owned affiliate in Indonesia, Chandra Asri Petrochemical.

SCG’s exports from its Thai production bases to other Asean markets dropped 18 per cent to Bt12.03 billion, because of the fall in chemical prices and the start of its overseas Asean facilities.

SCG’s board of directors approved the delisting of its 90-per-cent-owned subsidiary Thai Plastic and Chemicals from the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

The group also reported to the SET that its subsidiary SCG Cement-Building Materials had entered into an agreement to buy an additional 10-per-cent stake in Jumbo Barges and Tugs, a leading river and coastal logistics provider in Thailand, for Bt73 million.

This would raise its holding in the firm to 55 per cent.