PET producer Octal has surpassed the $3 billion dollar mark in sales, a record in the company's six-year history. The company also recorded its highest quarter production volume of PET in Q1, with March 2014 being its second best month ever of PET production volumes, the company said. The latest capacity expansion of its PET complex in Salalah has increased production of bottle grade PET resin by 40% with a monthly run-rate of $100 million. Octal accounts for approximately 15% of Oman's non-oil exports, which equates to about 1.5% of the national GDP. 

Joe Barenberg, executive VP and COO of Octal, said this is a clear indication of Oman's manufacturing prowess and potential for expanding Oman's presence on the world stage.

Octal converts diverse packaging lines to its PET resins and DPET sheet with new high volume packaging substrates expected to be announced in May at Interpack, the packaging trade fair in Dusseldorf, Germany. Today, the company exports to more than 70 countries around the world and provides clear rigid packaging to food and consumer products companies including Coca-Cola, Nestlé, P&G, Walmart and Almarai.

Octal was established in 2006 and has become one of the largest producers of APET sheet. Octal's unique direct-to-sheet process, DPET technology, eliminates five energy stages of the conventional sheet production process (pelletizer, SSP, compactor, dryer and extruder).

Octal's technology produces PET sheet with a caliper variation of less than 1%, allowing downgauging of up to 8 to 10%.