Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd and BASF Nederland BV (BASF) will go ahead to invest RM1.5bil in an integrated aroma ingredients complex in Gebeng, Kuantan and the first plant will come on stream in 2016.
They said in a joint statement on Wednesday the board of BASF-Petronas Chemicals Sdn Bhd had approved the final investment decision.
BASF-Petronas Chemicals is a JV between BASF and Petronas Chemicals on a 60:40 basis. It operates an integrated complex in Gebeng to produce acrylic monomers, oxo products and butanediol.
"The investment by both parties in the project will be in accordance with their respective shareholdings in the JV," it said. The proposed investment was announced in April 2013.
They said the project would comprise of a Citral and precursor plant complex, which would be integrated with the existing facilities of BPC in Gebeng.
"The project will also include a new world-scale plant to manufacture Citronellol and L-menthol, and will be developed in phases with the first plant expected to come on stream in 2016," the statement said.
With the complex, both parties target to meet the globally growing demand of customers in the flavour and fragrance industry, especially in Asia.
In addition, the project is part of Petronas Chemicals' overall growth strategy, and complements the company's expansion strategy into specialty chemicals.
