German chemical firm BASF and Malaysia-based Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG) intend to invest US$500 million in an integrated aroma ingredients project at their existing joint venture site BASF Petronas Chemicals in Gebeng, Kuantan.

At the heart of the complex will be a plant for citral and precursor plants. The partners will also invest in downstream production for aroma ingredients including a new world-scale plant for L-menthol and a plant for citronellol. Production will be developed in phases, with the first plants of the project operational in 2016, creating some 110 new employment opportunities. The integrated aroma chemicals complex will open up a new business frontier for PCG, tapping into the flavours, fragrance and pharmaceuticals markets.

BASF is one of the leading producers of aroma ingredients worldwide, with a product range that includes geraniol, citronellol, linalool and L-menthol. Aroma ingredients are sold to the flavour and fragrance industry, and are used mainly in home and personal care products and fine fragrances, as well as in the food industry and in pharmaceutical applications.

Citral is nature-identical to the main component of many essential oils like lemongrass, and is used as fresh-citrus and fruity notes in fragrances and flavours. It is also used in the production of vitamins A and E and as precursor for aroma ingredients. Citronellol is used for a fresh, powerful, and long-lasting rose fragrance, and is an indispensable component for numerous fresh-floral compounds. The cool freshness of L-menthol makes it popular as an ingredient in numerous products in oral care, body care, flavorings and in pharmaceutical applications.

BASF and PCG founded their joint venture BASF Petronas Chemicals in 1997. The company currently operates an integrated complex situated at the Gebeng Industrial Zone, Pahang. The company’s share capital is 60% held by BASF and 40% by PCG with a total initial investment of about RM3.4 billion for acrylic monomers, oxo products and butanediol production facilities. In the new project, the partners will invest according to their stake.