Malaysia's petchem industry booms

摘要

The chemical industry is a major contributor to the Malaysian economy, the fourth largest in Southeast Asia behind Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines, but biggest by GDP per capita. Petrochemicals (petchems) and oleochemi-cals are the two main streams. Although long-established, the Malaysian petchems industry really took off in the 1990s when several multinationals, including BASF, put down roots in the country. The three major established petchem hubs are at Kertih, Gebeng, and Pasir Gudang. Kertih is based on C1 and C2 chemistry, Gebeng on C3, and Pasir Gudang on C2 chemistry. Other sites at Labuan, Bintulu, and Gurun produce methanol; ammonia-urea; and ammonia-urea, methanol, and urea-formaldeyhde resins, respectively.