MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petronas Chemicals agreed to sell its Vietnam polyvinyl chloride (PVC) assets to Asahi Glass and Mitsubishi as part of ongoing efforts to refocus its business on higher value products, said Tcetoday.
The sale of its 93% interest in Phu My Plastics and Chemicals, which has a production capacity of 100,000 t/y of PVC, is expected to be completed in Q2 next year. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.
Petronas announced last year that it would close its vinyl business, and has already ceased operations at its vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and PVC plants in Kertih, Malaysia.
"Our decision allows us to focus our resources on higher value products and our growth projects in the pipeline," Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, chairman of Petronas Chemicals said when the strategy was first announced.
The vinyl business buys its ethylene dichloride feedstock from the open market, rather than sourcing it from within the company’s existing chemicals production value chain. This lack of integration means the margins are highly susceptible to price changes. Furthermore, it will save the relatively high costs of operating and maintaining its VCM plants, the company says.
The closure will also allow Petronas to divert the ethylene committed to its vinyl business to other higher margin products. When it first announced the new strategy, Petronas said it expected staff in Vietnam will continue to be employed under the management of the new owners.
Petronas, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.
MRC