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The Bank of Thailand expects demand for banknotes during Songkran this year to increase by 3 per cent to Bt30 billion compared with last year, said Woraporn Tangsaghasaksri, assistant governor for the Banknote Management Group.
He said Songkran tended to spur demand for banknotes as spending during the festival is higher than normal. Commercial banks are expected to reserve Bt160 billion worth of banknotes during the Songkran period in their branches and automated teller machines.
Kasikornbank will maintain cash reserves of Bt36 billion from April 12-17. Of that total, Bt12 billion is for branches nationwide, consisting of Bt5.5 billion for Bangkok and Bt6.5 billion for the provinces. The remaining Bt24 billion is for KBank’s 9,332 ATMs across the country.
Krungthai Bank is maintaining a cash reserve of Bt31 billion during the Songkran Festival. Siam Commercial Bank has increased its cash reserve for the Songkran holidays by 2.9 per cent over last year’s level to Bt36 billion to cope with the anticipated high demand for banknotes during the festival.
Bank of Ayudhya has increased its cash reserve for the festival by 16 per cent to Bt8.82 billion. Of that total, Bt6.67 billion is for its ATMs and Bt2.14 billion for its branches. Bangkok Bank has reserved Bt45 billion in cash for its 9,500 ATMs nationwide for the holiday period from April 13-17.

IVL COMPLETES ACQUISITION IN US

Indorama Ventures (IVL) has completed the 100 per cent acquisition of BP Alabama Petrochem Complex, adding economies of scale and integration to its PET business.
The complex at Decatur, Alabama, has the annual capacity of 1.02 million tonnes of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and naphthalene dicarboxylate (NDC). It is situated adjacent to the company’s AlphaPet PET plant and has been its main supplier of PTA since the factory was commissioned in 2009. IVL did not disclose the acquisition cost.
For similar rationale of integration, scale, technology and HVA business, IVL said that in the second quarter the acquisition of the 720,000 tonne PET, PTA and IPA complex of Cepsa in Cadiz, Spain would be completed.
“Businesses such as Decatur add unprecedented economies of scale and integration to our PET business and supports the growing need of our customers as well as that of our shareholders alike. As we build our scale in North America, we will continue to strive to be the supplier of choice for our customers and drive our growth trajectory as a world-class chemical company,” said Aloke Lohia, group CEO of IVL.
He said the acquisition brings the company competitive feedstock security with scale advantages, technology ownership and innovative products.
The acquisition of the Decatur Paraxylene, PTA and NDC assets coincide with United States International Trade Commission’s affirmative vote to apply anti subsidy and anti-dumping duties on PET resin imports from China, Canada, India and Oman.