BANGKOK, December 22 /PRNewswire/ -- ICIS, the world's leading chemical consultant, has rated PTT Chemical Plc's President CEO, Mr. Veerasak Kositpaisal, among the 2009 ICIS Top 40 Power Players of the year 2009. He is also the only one Thai business leader to join the list.

Mr. Veerasak Kositpaisal has gained an in-depth experience in petroleum and petrochemical business from his previous position in the top management team of Exxon Mobil before joining PTT Group. He became the President CEO of PTT Chemical Public Company Limited on 1 October 2008 when the global economy was suffering from the sub-prime turmoil. With his vision and practical measures for coping with the situation, PTT Chemical has gone through the difficult time and has recovered from profit loss within the first half of the year. The Company posted a profit of Baht 4,568 million during the first 9 months of this year which is three times higher than estimation.

The sub-prime crisis which has rippled through the entire U.S. and world economy cost global loss of over US$1 trillion and has an impact on many industries. The petrochemical industry also faces the downturn and is affected by the major corporations' plans to cope with the crisis which can be ranging from postponing business expansion plan, selling unprofitable units, to slashing workforce to cut cost. Affected by the wave of economic crisis, PTT Chemical rapidly adopted an immediate action plan. The strategic action took place in four areas including Marketing and Sales - becoming more proactive in sale and marketing; Operation - improving and maintaining efficiency of operation; Cash Flow Management - keeping financial discipline and inventory and stock control; and Working System Improvement - attaining more value-focused and cost-effective approaches to management, for example, an application of Supply Chain Management which helps reducing logistic and procurement cost.

PTT Chemical Plc, PTT Group's flagship company in the Olefins business, currently has the Olefins production capacity of 1.8 million tons per year and HDPE production capacity of 800,000 tons per year, making it the largest petrochemical producer in ASEAN region.

ICIS is the world's leading experienced chemical consultant. With network across the globe it provides high quality and commercially useful petrochemical and chemical news report and analysis.

Apart from revealing top CEOs from the leading and respected companies worldwide, the ICIS Top 40 Power Players also shows that Mr. Veerasak Kositpaisal, PTT Chemical's President CEO, is one of the five business leaders from Asia and the only one from Thailand.

For more information, please contact Public Relations Division:

Ms. Nichapa Charuskraisorn Tel. (+66)-22658633 E-mail :nichapa.c@pttchemgroup.com Ms. Sahasaya Panichapong Tel. (+66)-22658436 E-mail : sahasaya.p@pttchemgroup.com

www.pttchemgroup.com

SOURCE: PTT Chemical

CONTACT: Public Relations Division, Ms. Nichapa Charuskraisorn,+66-22658633, nichapa.c@pttchemgroup.com, or Ms. Sahasaya Panichapong,+66-22658436, sahasaya.p@pttchemgroup.com