PChem ... Jun11

Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd is going all out to grab a bigger market share of the world's petrochemical products. It also aims to become the third largest revenue contributor to parent Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) in the long term.

Petronas Chemicals, a 64.4 per cent subsidiary of Petronas, is currently the second smallest revenue contributor to the national oil and gas company accounting for six per cent of the RM210.8 billion revenue Petronas raked in for financial year ended March last year.

Petronas has a total of seven business divisions which include trading of crude oil, retail and distribution of petroleum products, logistics and maritime business and petrochemicals.

One of the strategies to strengthen its global position include ramping up production to boost revenue and make strategic, selective and synergistc acquisitions to consolidate the group's position as one of South-East Asia's largest integrated petrochemical producer.

Petronas Chemicals is the chemical arm of national oil and gas corporation Petronas, one of the country's leading integrated petrochemical producers.

Efforts to beef up production include participating in Petronas' upcoming plan to build a US$20 billion (RM60.3 billion) integrated downstream oil and gas complex in Pengerang Johor together with Germany's chemical company the BASF group. The plan is currently undergoing a feasi-bility study which ends in 2013.

Petronas Chemicals is primarily involved in the manufacturing, marketing and selling of a diversified range of downstream petrochemical products which are broken down from crude oil and natural gas.

These include olefins, polymers, fertilisers, methanol and other basic chemical and derivative products which are made into products such as paints, coatings, cosmetics, solvents, engine lubricants, plastic products, energy drinks and so many others.

Petronas Chemicals is the largest producer of methanol by volume in Southeast Asia and the fourth largest in the world.

It is also the largest producer of ethylene glycols in Southeast Asia and the third largest producer of urea and low-density polyethylene in South-East Asia by volume.

Locally, the group is also the market leader in the Malaysian petrochemicals industry based on the sales of urea, glycols and me-thanol.

The group operates through two integrated petrochemical complexes in the east of Peninsular Malaysia (Kertih and Gebeng) as well as three manufacturing complexes in Gurun, Bintulu and Labuan and a poly vinyl chloride plant in Vietnam.