Corporate News
Singapore, 23 June 2008 - Linde Gas Singapore Pte Ltd has announced a S$30 million (about €14 million) investment into the expansion of its existing hydrogen, carbon monoxide and syngas (HyCO) facility at Jurong island to supply Lucite International Singapore Pte Ltd with carbon monoxide for their new Alpha 1 project.
This follows a long-term supply agreement signed between the two companies in 2007 where Linde Gas Singapore was appointed by Lucite International Singapore to supply carbon monoxide for its new manufacturing facility on Jurong Island.
Lucite International is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of methyl methacrylate (MMA), supplying about 25 per cent of global demand for the plastic. It owns brands such as Lucite and Perspex and its products are used widely in home appliances and furnishings. The Lucite Alpha 1 facility will produce 120 kte per year of MMA and is scheduled to commence commercial operations later this year. The plant will serve the fast-growing Asia Pacific Market and is the first in a series of Alpha plants planned by Lucite that feature an innovative technology that is part of Lucite’s strategy for global growth.
The Linde Gas facility on Jurong Island has been in operation since 2000 and is the largest hydrogen and syngas facility in all of South East Asia, owned and operated by an Industrial Gases company. The plant supplies both chemicals and refining companies through its extensive pipeline network across Jurong Island.
Nick Cordingley, General Manager, Lucite International Singapore Pte Ltd said: "Linde is one of the world’s biggest and most respected industrial gas companies, with leading expertise in design and operations of CO production plants. Linde’s experience of working in Singapore combined with strong operational capabilities in the region and locally in Singapore make them a strong partner for Lucite International in this ground-breaking new plant.”
Liam Kinsella, Managing Director, Linde Gas Singapore Pte Ltd said: “This is an excellent opportunity for Linde Gases to extend our operations in Jurong and build a partnership with Lucite.”
Sanjiv Lamba, Managing Director for Linde Group’s business in South & East Asia said “This investment is a reflection of our continued commitment to the growing Singapore market. We are also encouraged by the support from EDB and are in the process of evaluating a number of new opportunities which are likely to result in Linde making additional investments in Singapore over the coming months.”
Singapore is currently one of the top three global centres for oil refining and one of the top ten petrochemical hubs in the world. The environmental and clean fuels agenda is driving growth in hydrogen demand within the oil and petrochemical industries. On top of Jurong Island's well established infrastructure, the addition of Linde’s pipeline network is an enabler for growth in the thriving petrochemicals industry.
Julian Ho, Executive Director, Energy, Chemicals and Engineering Services, of the EDB said, "We are pleased that Linde has decided to expand its HyCO plant in Jurong Island. This would further strengthen the competitive environment for its partners manufacturing on Jurong Island. The collaboration between Linde and Lucite is testament to this and we look forward to the continued growth of Linde in Singapore."
The well established Linde facility has an operations team which has achieved high reliability and safety standards, passing two million man-hours without a loss-time incident (LTI). This team forms the base of Linde Gases Asia Pacific HyCO centre of operations excellence which provides support to Linde Gases regional operations which includes 25 HyCO plants.