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Background

PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad is the 4th largest producer in Southeast Asia of olefins, including the plastics polyethylene and polypropylene, and is ranked no. 4 globally in methanol production.

Its integrated ethylene cracker and petrochemical complex in Malaysia supplies global chemical manufacturers domestically and overseas.

Business Description

PCHEM is part of the PETRONAS oil and gas group, hence a state-owned enterprise, and is Malaysia’s largest integrated olefin petrochemical producer. The olefins and derivatives business, which is ranked no. 4 by capacity in Southeast Asia, accounts for a bit over half of revenue. Fertilizer and methanol accounts for the rest of revenue. With methanol, PCHEM is ranked the 4th largest producer in the world.

In its petrochemical complex, it has an ethylene cracker combined with facilities to manufacture polyethylene, polypropylene and other olefin and chemical derivative products. PCHEM currently has a total combined annual production capacity of about 11m tons per annum, with a recent substantial capacity increase in fertilizers. It supplies global chemical majors including BASF (BAS GR) and Mitsubishi Chemicals (4188 JP).

PETRONAS’ Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project in the state of Johor should start commercial operations in stages during 2019. In 2017, Saudi Aramco entered into JVs related to RAPID and Saudi Aramco should supply 50-70% of the crude oil feedstock.

Leadership

Arif Mahmood has served as the Chairman of PCHEM since 2015 and PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad concurrently. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Boston University, US and an MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US.