Sinar Mas Cepsa Inaugurates €300 mn Oleochemicals Plant in Indonesia

Sinar Mas Cepsa, a joint venture between Cepsa and Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), a subsidiary of the Indonesian Sinar Mas Consortium has inaugurated its first oleochemical plant in Indonesia, which has required an investment of €300 million in the last 2 years.

The plant will produce fatty alcohols from sustainable palm kernel oil, a key ingredient in the manufacture of everyday products such as household cleaning or personal care.

The opening ceremony of the plant in Dumai (Sumatra) was attended by representatives and senior figures of the Indonesian Government, such as the Minister of Industry.

The Dumai plant has an annual production capacity of 160,000 metric tonnes of fatty alcohol per year. Sales of vegetable-based alcohols, increasingly demanded as raw materials for personal care products and liquid detergents, to a greater extent than conventional petroleum products, will focus primarily on the Asian market. The plant will also supply raw material to the surfactant factory (detergent products) of Sinar Mas Cepsa in Germany, which supplies to European markets.

The plant also helps consolidate Cepsa's position in Asia after the opening of its factory in Shanghai in 2015, which made the Company the second largest producer of phenol, a raw material for the production of state-of-the-art plastics.

The GAR Lubuck Gaung Refinery, certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and located near the new Dumai plant, supplies it with sustainable and traceable palm kernel oil. In addition, this new plant is fully self-sufficient, capable of producing its own electricity, treating its wastewater and managing its own logistics and needs.

"Chemical business is key to our growth strategy. We have a diversified portfolio of products and we are leaders in the areas in which we operate in the chemical industry. Entering the value chain of fatty alcohols is another step in our internationalization plan and, of course, we do it with the best possible partner," said Pedro Miro, CEO of Cepsa.

"The Dumai plant, the second joint venture factory, takes advantage of Cepsa's technology and know-how in oleochemicals and relies on GAR for the raw material. Having already consolidated our presence in Europe by acquiring a surfactant plant in Germany, we will study both the possibility of new joint projects downstream and the expansion of our capabilities in this part of the world, " said Kung Chee Whan, CEO of Sinar Mas Cepsa.