TWO years ago, Petronas announced that it planned to spend roughly US$6 bil (RM24.04 bil) over the next 15 to 20 years to expand its specialty chemicals portfolio through acquisitions and partnerships.
According to Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd CEO Sazali Hamzah at the time, the budget was part of the group’s efforts to make high-margin specialty chemicals a central part of its business.
“By doing that we are going to diversify our portfolio and our dependency on crude and gas will be a lot less,” he said.
In October 2020, McKinsey & Company reported that the demand for petrochemicals could reach pre-COVID-19 levels by the first quarter of 2022.
There are also possibilities of overcapacity issues remaining beyond 2022.
“Industry players have only a few options to address utilisation, including delaying capacity additions and restructuring current capacity,” the research firm noted.
“Heading into the crisis, ethylene utilisation was expected to be about 85% between 2020 and 2025 (versus 89% in 2019),” it added.
Earlier today, Damansara Holdings Bhd (DBhd) secured the extension of its Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) contract with Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Corporation Sdn Bhd (PRPC) worth RM67 mil.
According to DBhd, the award is for IFM services at Rapid Temporary Executive Village (RTEV) and Rapid Temporary Management Office (RTMO) Facilities and Infrastructure for Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) at Pengerang, Johor or known as The Hive.
In this contract extension awarded to its subsidiary, TMR LC Services Sdn Bhd (TMRLC) will provide IFM services at The Hive on operations and maintenance (O&M), buildings and infrastructure, as well as accommodation and cafeteria. – Jan 4, 2021
