NEW STRAITS TIMES – 23 JANUARY 2008 (WEDNESDAY)
Technip plans RM500m Johor plant
FRANCE-BASED oil and gas engineering company Technip Group will build a RM500 million plant to make flexible pipes in Johor, says its president and chief operating officer Bernard de Tulio. The plant will be built on 20ha seafront site in the Tanjung Langsat Industrial area. Construction will start in the second quarter of the year and be completed in 2010.
The manufacturing facility will have annual production capacity of 200km of eight-inch normalized flexible pipes, and be able to handle and load on vessels for product on reels weighing up to 300 tonnes. “The facility will enable about 20,000 tonnes of this product to be shipped every year, with primary focus on exports to Asia-Pacific and Indian markets,” de Tullio said.
Currently, there are two similar plants producing flexible pipes for Technip in Le Trail (France) and Vitoria (Brazil). The Malaysian plant will have 300 people working in three shifts, and the layout will allow for extension to manufacture umbilicals.
Technip’s subsidiary, Asiaflex Products Sdn Bhd and Tanjung Langsat Port Sdn Bhd (TLP), a subsidiary of Johor Corporation, signed a land-lease agreement for the new plant in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. The lease is for 30 years, with an option to extend for another 30 years.
Under the agreement, Tanjung Langsat Port will construct a cargo wharf for Asiaflex at an estimated cost of RM130 million. It will be completed by the end of next year.
Asiaflex was set up by Technip as part of its programme to strengthen its assets in the subsea segment. On other developments, Johor Corp chief operating officer Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim said that Tanjung Langsat Port had spent RM200 million to develop the land, tank farm and jetty infrastructure.
The port is also in the process of constructing three additional berths for liquid cargo, costing a further RM165 million, which are expected to be ready by end-2009 as well.- Bernama |
