Gokongwei bares P16-b investments
posted December 26, 2016 at 09:20 pm by Othel V. Campos
http://manilastandard.net/
The Board of Investments granted tax incentives to three petrochemical projects of conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc. in Batangas province with total investments of P15.8 billion.
“We welcome investment projects such as these. The company’s initiative and innovation in expanding their petrochemical plants is definitely a big boost to the manufacturing industry and its sub-sectors,” said Trade Undersecretary and BoI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo.
JG Summit is the investment company of tycoon John Gokongwei.
Two pioneering projects of JG Summit Petrochemical Corp. received the nod under the preferred activities of the existing Investment Priorities Plan with the endorsement of the Science Department.
The first petrochemical project is a P4.2-billion plant for the production of butadiene and raffinate. Another is the P3-billion project for the production of benzene, toluene, mixed xylene, C8+/C9+ Cut and non-aromatics.
JG Summit Olefins Corp., a unit under the petrochemical group, will undertake the expansion of the existing naphtha cracker plant to produce additional polymer grade ethylene, polymer grade propylene, mixed C4 and pyrolysis (Py) gas, costing the company an additional investment of P8.6 billion.
The petrochemical group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JG Summit Holdings, one of the largest business conglomerates in the country.
The Science Department endorsed the projects under the pioneer status given the innovativeness and novelty of the activity, the level of technological expertise required, impact on increasing the level of science and technology in the Philippines and possibilities for commercial operation.
The petrochemical projects will generate 112 jobs once fully operational in 2021. The firm is expected to produce butadiene and raffinate at 70,000 metric tons and 89,000 MT annually, respectively.
Its other petrochemical products will yield benzene at 126,000 MT annually, toluene at 76,000 MT, mixed xylene at 46,000 MT, C8+/C9+ Cut at 18,000 MT and non-aromatics, 29,000 MT.
The JG Olefins project, on the other hand, is expected to employ 21 personnel when the expansion operations start in July 2021. It will churn out additional amounts of ethylene at 160,002 MT/year, propylene at 51,000 MT, Mixed C4 at 26,418 MT and Py Gas, 78,876 MT.
All three projects will be located in the JG Summit Petrochemical complex in Batangas City.
The Petrochemical Group currently operates two polyethylene and polypropylene plants with a combined capacity of 320,000 metric tons annually of PE and 180,000 MT of PP.
The complex also houses the country’s first and only naphtha cracker facility, also a BoI-registered project. From the time the naphtha cracker started commercial operations in 2014, the upstream JG Olefins Corp. has been able to provide the downstream Petrochemical Group with a stable and competitive source of feedstock for its polymer plants.
The naphtha cracker expansion project of the petrochemical group plans to pursue the construction of additional new or expanded downstream units, to help maximize the potential derivatives value from each of the newly-registered derivatives and expand exports of butadiene, benzene, and other products to China, Korea and other Asian countries.
