Mumbai: Reliance Industries has decided to build up a pan-Asian polyster business, which will get hitched with the country’s low-priced raw material base with specific production facilities near to key markets.

Reliance will make use of the recently-acquired assets of Hualon that it decided to take over for $225-259 million on Monday, to make polyster fabric and yarn for exportation.

The plants will utilize raw material, such as purified terephthalic acid from Reliance’s plants in Jamnagar and Hazira, thus making a wholly integrated business-chain like the one subsists in India.

A senior Reliance representative stated that the business firm is in search of more such acquisition chances in the Asian region that makes 75% of the world’s polyester and is a crucial exporter.

Nikhil Meswani, executive director, Reliance Industries said, “India and China and the region in between are the clothiers to the world.”

Mr. Meswani added that an incorporated business will be in proportion to Reliance’s plan. Nearly 20 per cent of Hualon’s subsisting production is sold in the localized market while the rest is exported.

Reliance on Monday granted to take on Hualon’s assets, which include water jet looms, 200 texturising machines and 250,000 spindles. Nearly half of Hualon’s creation is specialized material.

Mr. Meswani said, “Polyester margins are very bad today. But they are on the road to recovery. We have bought the assets at the right time.”

Macquarie Securities forecasts that polyester margins for the existing month augmented 0.8% m-o-m but are still low 55% as compared to the last year (2006).

Since 1980s, polyester demand and utilization have shifted gradually on the side of Asia. The majority of the top polyester companies in the world today originate from India, China and Taiwan. Asia is also seeing a speedily rising polyester consumption.