BASF Petronas Chemicals, the joint venture of BASF and Malaysian petrochemicals giant Petronas, plans to build a new world-scale production plant for highly reactive polyisobutene (HR-PIB) at the site of its Kuantan, Malaysia, joint venture.

The plant, which is claimed to be the first of its kind in South East Asia, will have annual capacity of 50,000 t/y and is expected to start up in the fourth quarter of 2017. HR-PIB is an important intermediate product for the manufacturing of high performance fuel and lubricant additives, including additives for sludge prevention.

Christian Fischer, President of BASF’s Performance Chemicals division, said the joint investment will further increase security of supply for HR-PIB, especially for the Asian market, as well as further strengthening the global footprint of BASF as the leading supplier.

Datuk Sazali Hamzah, CEO of Petronas, said the investment marks another significant milestone in the development of the Kuantan site as a leading specialty chemicals hub in the Asia-Pacific region, in line with the company’s strategy to diversify into specialty chemicals and solutions.