SP Chemicals

Infobox_Company
company_name = SP Chemicals Ltd.
company_
company_type = Public (SGX: [http://info.sgx.com/serviceapp.nsf/Cpy/S17 S17] )
foundation = 1990
location = Singapore
industry = Manufacturing
products = Chemicals, Plastics, and other Specialized Products & Services
revenue = profit$1.501 Billion RMB (2006)
net_income = profit$443 Million RMB (2006)
num_employees = 1,003 (2006)
homepage = [http://www.spchemicals.com/ www.spchemicals.com]

SP Chemicals, a Singapore-based company listed on the Main Board of SGX-ST on 6 August 2003, is one of the largest ion-membrane chlor-alkali producer and aniline producer in the PRC.

Backed by a 11-year track record in the PRC, SP Chemicals manufactures and sells chlor-alkali products and related downstream products to PRC-based and export customers including BASF, The Dow Chemical Company, Tomen Corporation Ltd, Akzo Nobel Chemicals MCA (Taixing) Co, Ltd. (part of the Dutch Fortune 500 company Akzo Nobel N. V.) and Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes Co., Ltd, the largest domestic MDI producer in the PRC.

Products

SP Chemicals engages in the manufacture and sale of the chemical industry's basic building blocks - caustic soda, chlorine, hydrogen and its related downstream products. Their products are materials widely used in various applications across a diverse range of industries.
*Aniline
*Caustic Soda
*Chlorine
*Chlorobenzene
*Nitrochlorobenzene
*Nitrobenzene
*Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM)

Medium-Term Strategic Business Plan ("MTSBP")

In a strategic thrust to expand their chemical raw materials business, SP Chemicals had, in August 2004, unveiled the Medium-Term Strategic Business Plan ("MTSBP"). The core of the plan was a commitment to achieve further growth and profitability pursued through an estimated US$216 million investment in a series of initiatives. These initiatives included the creation of new capabilities for the production of Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM), the doubling of the Chlor-alkali and aniline production capacities, and the development of the co-generation plant.

Since 3Q 2006, SP Chemicals has doubled their Chlor-alkali and aniline production capacities in their Production Phase Four Expansion Plans ("PP4"). Their Co-generation plant has also been operating since May 2006. In addition, the construction of their VCM plant has been completed, with commercial operation targeted by the second half of FY2007.

Production Phase Five Expansion Plans ("PP5")

SP Chemicals announced their Production Phase Five Expansion Plans ("PP5") in December 2006, which increases the Group's annual production capacities for caustic soda, chlorine, and aniline. Construction of their new PP5 facilities began in 1Q 2007, with trial production targeted to take place by 1Q 2008.

Annual production capacities will be increased to:
*Caustic soda: 450,000 tonnes (from 300,000 tonnes)
*Chlorine: 396,000 tonnes (from 264,000 tonnes)
*Aniline: 135,000 tonnes (from 90,000 tonnes)

Styrene Monomer Production

To further drive its growth, SP Chemicals plans to invest approximately RMB1.1 billion in facilities for the production of styrene monomer, an intermediate raw chemical used in making polystyrene plastics, protective coatings, polyesters and resins.

Styrene monomer, which can be used in a wide range of consumer and industrial applications, complements SP Chemical's existing product range of chlor-alkali products including aniline, chlorine and caustic soda. It would allow SP Chemicals to share the use of the facilities already built for its Vinyl Chloride Monomer (“VCM”) Plant, such as the ethylene storage tank and the air separators, without affecting the requirements of its VCM Plant, as these facilities were built with some surplus capacity.

SP Chemicals’ plan is to produce 320,000 tpa of styrene monomer, which requires ethylene and benzene. Construction of its new styrene monomer production facilities is expected to commence in third quarter of FY2008, and completed by fourth quarter FY2009. Trialproduction is targeted to take place by first quarter FY2010.

About one-third of the total investment amount of RMB1.1 billion will be financed by internal cash flow, while the remaining two-thirds will be financed from China bank borrowings.

Vietnam Petrochemical Industrial Park

SP Chemicals is planning to build an integrated petrochemical park of 1,300 hectares and a naphtha cracking plant in the Vietnam Petrochemical Industrial Park, with a production capacity of 800,000 tpa of ethylene annum to supply raw materials to their own facilities in the PRC, and Hoa Tam Petrochemical Park, and to a lesser extent for export.

This mammoth project is targeted to be completed within 15 years in 2 development phases:
*Phase One – To build a naphtha cracking and utility plant; targeted to be completed in 2014 at an investment of US$1.5 billion.
*Phase Two – To promote the Hoa Tam Petrochem Park and invite investment for upstream and downstream petrochemical projects; targeted to be completed by 2024.

Awards

* June 2001 - Awarded certificate by TuV Anlagentechnik GmbH.
* January 2004 - Ranked in the 2003/2004 Singapore 1000 Rankings, which identifies the top 1000 companies ranked by the highest overseas revenue amongst the listed and private Singapore-based companies.
* September 2004 - SP Chemicals' CEO was awarded the "Jiangsu Friendship Award", by the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government, a highly esteemed award, recognising outstanding contributions by foreign experts, to the development of China's economy, science, technology, education and culture.
* January 2005 - Ranked in the 18th Singapore 1000 Rankings.
* April 2005 - Certified by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance to .
* October 2005 - "Most Transparent Company Award (Manufacturing Category)" by Securities Investors Association (Singapore) Investors' Choice Awards 2005.
* November 2005 - SP Chemicals Annual Report 2004 and new corporate identity logo won the prestigious "Creativity Awards" in the U.S.
* January 2006 - Ranked in the 19th Singapore 1000 Rankings.
* March 2006 - "Best Investor Relations Award / Silver" (for companies with market capitalization of less than S$500 million as at 30 June 2005), as part of the inaugural Singapore Corporate Awards organised by The Business Times.
* August 2006 - Winner of the "2003 – 2005 Top Jiangsu Overseas Chinese Enterprise Award" ("2003 - 2005年度“江苏省百强侨资企业") awarded by the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government. SP Chemicals was one of 86 leading foreign-investment companies in Jiangsu Province who were conferred the provincial award.
* September 2006 - Presented the "2003-2005 PRC Top 100 Overseas Chinese Enterprise Award" ("2003 - 2005年度全国百家明星侨资企业"), by the Economy and Technology Department of the State Council's Office of Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. SP Chemicals was ranked 19th out of the top 100 overseas Chinese enterprises.
* October 2006 - SP Chemicals was one of 25 SGX-listed stocks with operations in China, to be included in the PrimePartners China Index. These 25 companies were selected based on their liquidity, representation in the industry sector, trading volume and market capitalization.
* November 2006 - Garnered second time in two years, the international "Creativity Awards" for SP Chemicals Annual Report 2005.
* January 2007 - Ranked in the 20th Singapore 1000 Rankings.
* May 2007 - "Best Investor Relations Award / Gold" (for companies with market capitalization of less than S$500 million as at 30 June 2006), as part of the Singapore Corporate Awards organised by The Business Times.

External links

* [http://www.spchemicals.com SP Chemicals website]
* [http://www.chempark.com.cn/enwhh/htm/1_guide01.htm China Fine Chemical Industry Taixing Park]
* [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/300621/1/.html SP Chemicals moves into production of styrene monomer ] (Channel News Asia)
* [http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/293753/1/.html S'pore firms scale up operations in Vietnam to tap opportunities] (Channel News Asia)