Hengyi Industries Sdn. Bhd. constructs, owns, and operates an oil refinery. It focuses on churning out refined products to cater for domestic demand; and aromatics for export to China. The company was founded in 2011 and is based in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. As of March 6, 2012, Hengyi Industries.Sdn.Bhd. operates as a subsidiary of Hong Kong Tianyi International Holding Co., Ltd. (Bloomberg).
Operations and Forecasts
According to BizBrunei, Hengyi Industries has committed USD 12 billion to develop the second phase of its Pulau Muara Besar (PMB) refinery and petrochemical plant. Divided by two phases, Hengyi is expected to raise the site’s crude oil processing capacity to 22 million tonnes per year when it becomes operational by 2022. Chairman of Zhejiang Hengyi Group Co. Qiu Jianlin said that both phases of investment will amount to over USD 15 billion, Hengyi’s largest foreign investment to date.
Phase One
- 1.5 million tonnes of paraxylene annually
- 500,000 tonnes of benzene annually
Phase Two
- 3 million tonnes of paraxylene and ethylene annually
Chemical Products
While the refining of crude oil ensures Brunei has self-sufficiency in petroleum products for local consumption, the surplus of which will be exported to regional countries. Much of the downstream chemical products is used primarily as raw material for industrial processes and manufacturing and will be exported to China, explained Qiu Jialin.
Paraxylene is the main ingredient for purified terephthalic acid (PTA) which is used to create polyester fiber (PET). Ethylene glycol is also an important precursor for PET. Both PTA and PET are highly demanded industrial chemicals to make clothing and plastic materials – and meet Hengyi’s aspirations of being the world’s number one polyester manufacturer.
Image by Hengyi Industries
Impact on Local Employment
The first phase, which is currently under construction is slated for completion by 2019, will create 971 jobs. The second phase, expected to begin construction next year, will provide for another 1,500 jobs. 70 per cent of this workforce will be Bruneian.
“The PMB project will also demand the provision of services, financing and logistics from local Bruneian companies, which we estimate will create another 3,000 to 4,000 jobs,” said Jialin.
Meanwhile, employment opportunities in construction for phase one of the project is expected to reach 10,000 at its peak, about half targeted to be local (BizBrunei).
Environment
Perhaps more importantly for locals is how this massive undertaking will affect the environment of which they live in. According to Hengyi, they are “commited to ensuring that the environment and society mitigates any impact to an acceptable level. The commitments amongst others include areas pertaining to air, water, noise, hazardous materials, waste, ecological, socio-economics and emergency response / preparedness.”
To tackle this, Hengyi has developed posters for reference for their Contractors regarding the wild life and archaeological sensitivities on PMB.
HYBN welcomes any feedback form the general public on matters relating to the environment surrounding the PMB area. HYBN has a Corporate Department that will handle queries relating to the company and its activities
Visit Hengyi Industries for more information.
References:
- BizBrunei (2017) https://www.bizbrunei.com/hengyi-invests-usd-12-billion-pulau-muara-besar-pmb-second-phase/
- Hengyi Industries (2018) http://www.hengyi-industries.com/environment
- Bloomberg (2018) https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=184184572