German chemical producer Evonik (Essen; www.evonik.com) is stepping into the Petronas (Kuala Lumpur / Malaysia; www.petronas.com) Refinery and Integrated Development (RAPID) project in Pengerang / Malaysia, as German rival BASF (Ludwigshafen; www.basf.com) changes plans – see Plasteurope.com of 23.01.2013 and 25.01.2013. The Essen group said it has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the Malay group to build and jointly operate three new production facilities at the Pengerang, Johor site.

The list of envisaged joint projects includes a facility for 220,000 t/y of PVC plasticiser precursor isononanol (INA), one of several initially conceived to be built by the BASF-Petronas partnership, as well as a plant for 110,000 t/y of PE feedstock 1-butene and a plant for 250,000 t/y of hydrogen peroxide. All three are due on stream in 2016.

“Evonik’s excellent track record and more than 100 years of experience in the industry, backed by its proven technical, engineering and sales support, make them another strategic partner in the development of RAPID towards achieving the project’s final investment decision,” said Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Ariffin, chief operating officer of Petronas and executive vice president of the group's downstream business.