Featured Stories | Singapore Economic Development Board

CREDIT: Shell

Shell Completes its Largest Petrochemical Investment To Date

Since the days of Shell's first trading post here in 1891, the company's operations have grown to encompass manufacturing, trading, finance and treasury activities. The recent completion of the Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex (SEPC) project marks yet another milestone in the Shell-Singapore partnership as it further strengthens Singapore's position as the company’s largest oil and petrochemicals manufacturing centre in the Asia-Pacific region.

By combining Shell's existing Bukom refinery with a new petrochemical cracker complex, the SEPC project is critical in enhancing the overall competitiveness of Shell's operations here. More importantly, the complex will further integrate Bukom to Jurong Island by bringing a new source of feedstock to Jurong Island and is expected to introduce a new wave of high value downstream investments for Singapore.

CREDIT: ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil Powers Up

Less than 10 years ago, ExxonMobil built in Singapore its largest chemical facility in Asia. Now, it is adding another world-scale petrochemical facility in Singapore. When completed in 2012, ExxonMobil’s largest owned and operated petrochemical complex and the Corporation’s largest integrated chemical and refining site in the world will be located in Singapore.

"This is a significant investment for ExxonMobil and it demonstrates our continued commitment to serve Asia Pacific as well as our confidence in the region's long-term growth potential. This project supports Singapore’s vision to be a global petrochemicals hub and enhances ExxonMobil’s ability to meet increasing demand for our products in the region." Said Michael J. Dolan, Senior Vice President, ExxonMobil Corporation.

The new plant will create approximately 400 new positions in Singapore. It will feature some of ExxonMobil’s proprietary and state-of-the-art technologies to produce a range of high value products. This includes a specialty polymer called Vistamaxx. Highly elastic and flexible, this new polymer will be used for next-generation medical, automotive and apparel materials.

CREDIT: Mitsui Chemicals

More Chemistry for Mitsui

Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. of Japan is expanding its footprint in Singapore and has recently opened its second TAFMER™ plant. TAFMER™ is a flexible and light resin modifier that improves impact-resistance for moulding materials such as automobile bumpers.

The new S$280m plant on Jurong Island is Mitsui Chemicals' 5th globally and will be the company's most technologically advanced yet.

With its start-up, Singapore will account for two-thirds of the company's global elastomer production capacities. Being here in Singapore, Mitsui Chemicals will be well-positioned to access and tailor products to meet the specific needs of the fast growing Asian growth markets such as China, India, and South East Asia. Prior to this, Mitsui cemented its presence in Singapore by setting up its first overseas corporate R&D centre here in 2006.

CREDIT: Lanxess

Lanxess Finds the Right Formula in Singapore

LANXESS has recently relocated its butyl rubber business unit Global Headquarters (GHQ) from Switzerland to Singapore, including its senior management team for logistics, sales and finance. On top of the GHQ project, LANXESS is also building a EUR400 mil butyl rubber plant in Singapore which will help serve the rising demand for tires, particularly among the growing middle-class in countries such as China and India. When operational in 2013, the new production plant will produce up to 100,000 tonnes of butyl rubber annually. LANXESS's new plant will also set standards for the region and the world in terms of environmental protection by adopting a manufacturing process that requires significantly less steam, thus lowering the plant's overall energy consumption.

CREDIT: Bayer
MaterialScience AG

Bayer opens Functional Films Research Centre in Singapore, its first in Asia Pacific

Bayer MaterialScience's opening of its new Functional Films Research Centre is a strong testimony of Singapore's efforts to be a home in Asia for companies looking to create new value through innovation and knowledge-intensive activities. The facility is the company’s first and only Upstream Corporate Research Centre in Asia. Using self-developed material technologies, Bayer MaterialScience will pursue joint projects with collaboration partners to create films and materials that advance technological breakthroughs in electronics. These include multifunctional films that serve as high-tech substrates for flexible electronics applications as well as quantum dots for more efficient LED (Light-emitting diode) lighting that consume less energy and offer improved picture quality.