South Korea based chemical company, OCi has launched its regional office here in Malaysia which will consolidate functions of OCI Japan, China and Philippines.
Minister of International Trade and Investment said the specialty chemicals market is substantial. And there is an opportunity for Malaysia to capture that business by producing specialty chemicals domestically, capturing both domestic market demand and export opportunities.
Tengku Zafrul welcomed the significant investments that OCIM has made over the years in the chemicals and petrochemicals space. Where OCIM and its JV partners have commited close to RM16 billion in Malaysia – a huge contribution to the Malaysian economy.
OCIM first entered Malaysia in 2017 with an initial investment of RM3 billion, although it had earlier secured the takeover of Tokuyama Malaysia Sdn Bhd which resulted in its expansion into multiple portfolios in the chemical and petrochemical segments.
OCIM’s latest investments amounting to RM7 billion, will be used to produce polycrystalline silicon for semiconductor and solar cells as well as Epichlorohydrin (ECH). Zafrul said the manufacturing of ECH in Malaysia will strengthen the value chain of epoxy manufacturing, contributing towards increasing the competitiveness of the chemical industry in Malaysia. All these will help Malaysia produce higher value-added and complex products.
The Minister has also invited OCI to support the local demand in the near future as Malaysia moves in aggressively into the front-end semiconductor value chain, and green sectors such as EV development, renewable energy, and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) – where all of these would require cutting- edge technology, products and services.
The regional hub will consolidate services functions for OCI Japan, China, Philippines and Malaysia from the setting of financial budgets, development of business plans to identification of new growth investment initiatives.
Apart from that, the Regional Headquarters will also manage and support a network of OCI Group of subsidiaries and affiliates across multiple countries, including investment ventures in chemicals and energy solutions not only in Southeast Asia but also globally, from the new office in Malaysia.
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