GEBENG: The highly reactive polyisobutene (HR-PIB) production plant at the BASF Petronas Chemicals Sdn Bhd integrated site in Gebeng, Pahang made its debut.
It was officiated by Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Lee Chee Leong.
The plant, which is the latest investment by the BASF and Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad joint venture, will be the first of its kind in Southeast Asia with a total annual capacity of 50,000 metric tons of HR-PIB.
The plant is expected to start production in the fourth quarter of 2017.
HR-PIB is an important intermediate product for the manufacturing of high performance fuel and lubricant additives.
Located within one of BASF’s two Verbund (integrated) sites in Asia Pacific, the new HR-PIB plant is a synergistic opportunity for backward integration that allows for greater sustainable use of raw materials, energy and technology know-how.
This is to ensure high delivery reliability and maximising efficient use of energy and feedstock.
In addition to this new plant, BASF also operates production facilities for HR-PIB at its Verbund sites in Ludwigshafen, Germany and Antwerp, Belgium, and within a joint venture with Sinopec YPC in Nanjing, China.
BASF Petronas Chemicals is a Malaysia-based joint venture between BASF SE and Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG).
The company’s share capital is 60 per cent held by BASF SE and 40 per cent by PCG with a total investment of about RM3.4 billion (US$900 million) in production facilities for acrylic monomers, oxo products and butanediol.
The company is also currently building a RM1.5 billion Integrated Aroma Ingredients facility to manufacture citral, citronellol and L-menthol.