KUALA LUMPUR (July 11): Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd (LCT), which returned to the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia today, had a dismal start and fell 1.85% in active trade at the midday break.

At 2.05pm, LCT was down 12 sen to RM6.38, with 30.98 million shares done.

The company is betting on South East Asia (SEA) as a "strong demand growth area" for its products for the next 3 years.

Earlier, speaking to the press after its listing ceremony here today, its vice president (corporate planning) Philip Kong said the SEA market can absorb supply coming in from its expansion plans in Malaysia and Indonesia, moving forward.

"There is a strong growth demand here in Malaysia and Indonesia. We believe the market can absorb [the supply] of polyolefin products, and independent market researchers share a similar view," Kong added.

He was responding to pundits' views that the market for polyolefin — one of LCT's core products — is in oversupply, subduing investor interest to its IPO, one of the biggest in Bursa Malaysia since 2012, with short of RM4 billion raised.

With the proceeds being lower than the initially-planned RM5.9 billion, LCT has cut down allocation to fund its RM15 billion Indonesian integrated petrochemical facility from RM4.9 billion to RM2.8 billion.