BRUSSELS: Belgium-based chemicals firm Solvay opened its S$50 million specialty surfactants plant in Singapore, its largest in Asia.
It also announced completion of the expansion of an oil and gas lab at its research and innovation centre here, banking on optimism that upstream oil exploration activity in Asia will continue apace given the drive towards energy self-sufficiency in many countries.
Solvay’s plant by its Novecare business line will customise specialty alkoxylate formulations to the requirements of customers in the agrochemicals, coatings, home and personal care, industrial, and oil and gas sectors in Asia, which has a fast-growing middle class.
It will serve multinational corporations such as Unilever, and Procter & Gamble and smaller local firms in South-east Asia.
The plant, which has a production capacity of 50,000 tonnes a year, will complement existing facilities in India and China and contribute about one-eighth of Solvay Nove-care’s global alkoxylate production volumes when running at full capacity next year. It will hire nearly 40 staff.
Solvay Novecare has seven other specialty alkoxylation plants in the world.
The company, which is listed in Brussels and Paris, has grown at an average of 20 per cent in its surfactants and polymer business in the past five years through both acquisitions and organic growth, beating the industry average of 2-4 per cent, said Solvay Novecare president Emmanuel Butstraen.
This investment in Singapore is another step in continuing that pace going forward,” he told reporters at a briefing.
The plant on Jurong Island will receive a key raw material, high-purity ethylene oxide, via a dedicated pipeline from Shell’s plant nearby, with which it has signed a “very long term” contract.
It will also procure oleochemicals – chemicals derived from plant and animal fats – from Malaysia and Indonesia, the top two producers of palm oil globally.
Singapore’s proximity to both raw materials and customers was the reason behind this latest investment, said Mr Butstraen.
For Cindy Koh, energy and chemicals director, Singapore Economic Development Board, the new facility attests to Singapore’s attractiveness as a location for companies looking to capture growth opportunities in the region. “We will continue to build upon our existing strengths in logistics and infrastructure to bolster integration across the chemical value chain on Jurong Island to deliver greater value to companies,” she said.
Specialty chemicals companies account for a third of the S$6 billion fixed asset investments Singapore has secured for the energy and chemicals sector in the past two years.
These investments in specialty chemicals will create over 1,000 skilled and exciting jobs for Singaporeans,” said Second Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran.
Solvay Novecare also on Friday inaugurated its newly expanded oil and gas lab, aimed at internationalising its United States-based oil and gas business to serve regional customers in production, cementing and stimulation, especially in fast-growing countries such as China, Malaysia and Australia, among others.
