BASF and PETRONAS to construct HR-PIB plant in Malaysia

Deputy Minister of the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Dato' Lee Chee Leong, led the ground-breaking ceremony on March 17 for the highly reactive polyisobutene (HR-PIB) production plant at the BASF PETRONAS Chemicals Sdn Bhd integrated site in Gebeng, Kuantan, Malaysia.

The plant, which is the latest investment by the BASF and PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad’s joint venture, is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. It will have 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 manufacture 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 underpins the Verbund philosophy in ensuring 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 Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), Malaysia’s fully integrated oil and gas multinational, under its subsidiary PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG). Incorporated in 1997, the company operates an integrated complex situated at the Gebeng Industrial Zone, Pahang.