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Oleochemical plants multiply in ASEAN area

Inthe oleochemical industry. atleast 250,000 metric Ions(MT}-and perhaps as much as400,000 MT-c-of natural alcohol

capacity per year are expected tocome onsrreem worldwide during thenext five years. Although several pro-jects are under way in the UnitedStates, much of the anticipated capaci-ty will be added in Malaysia. Indone-sia and the Philippines. Southeast Asiais bustling with oleochemical ven-tures. either nearing completion or inprogress. The proliferation of oleo-chemical plants in the ASEAN regionis one reason the World Conferenceon Oleochemicals: Into the 21SI Cen-tury is being held next month in KualaLumpur.

"Prior to 1980, less than I% of theworld's 75 oleochemicals were manu-factured from palm and palm kerneloils but now the figure is estimated tobe more than 10%," according to thereport "Oleochemicals from Palm Oiland Palm Kernel Oil" prepared byA.S.H. Ong and colleagues at thePalm Oil Research Institute ofMalaysia (PORIM) as printed in theJune 1989 issue of ELAEIS. "Crudepalm oil, RBD (refined, bleached,deodorized) stearin and palm kernel oiloffer a considerable price advantageover materials available in Rotterdamto oleochemical producers in Malaysiaand other countries in the Associationof South East Asia Nations (ASEAN)region." the article said.

In the Philippines, coconut oil isused to produce oleochemicals. Long abasic raw material for the oleochemicalindustry, coconut oil is being aided inthe Philippines by regulations requiringincreasing use of coconut-derivedchemicals in cleaning products.

In addition to representing newcapacity. the rise of natural oil-deriveddetergent alcohols signals a new chal-lenge to the traditional dominance ofpetrochemical detergent alcohols inboth the world and U.S. markets.

Here is a look at some of the oleo-chemical ventures. as well as deter-gent-related projects, that have beencompleted, announced or are underway.

Chino

o

Prior to 1980, less than J% of world oleochemicals wasmanufactured from palm and palm kernel oils;now the figure may be more than JO%.

MalaysiaAlmost 70% of domestic Malaysianpalm and palm kernel oil consump-tion-approximately 4% of total pro-duction-is by the oleochemicalindustry, with nearly all of the result-ing products exported, according to a1990 U.S. Department of Agriculturereport from Malaysia.

The first oleochemical projects inMalaysia were established in the early1980s, less than a decade after palmoil refining was introduced there."The early years were less than suc-cessful: high raw material costs and anoversupply meant fierce competitionand very lean margins," R.M. Speedof Unichema Malaysia Sdn, Bhd. toldthe 1989 PORIM International Palm

Oil Development Conference. "Sincethat time, the Asian Pacific market hasmatured and the Malaysian industry isfirmly established. In comparison withsome other industries, the margins arenow acceptable and investors are oncemore interested," he said.

The first oleochemical facility wasAcidchem (Malaysia) Bhd.. a whollyowned subsidiary of Palmco HoldingsBhd. (Palmco). This facility producesfauy acids and glycerine, Shortlythereafter, Unichema Malaysia wasestablished in Selangor. near KualaLumpur, by Unichema International ofThe Netherlands. It produces fauyacids, glycerine, soap and soap chips.

In October 1980, Henkel Oleo-chemicals (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.

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(HOM) was formed as a joint venturecompany of Henkel KGaA of WestGermany and Jomalina. HOM's facili-ty at Selangor Darul Ehsan producesmethyl esters from palm kernel, palmoil and palm stearin, as well as dis-tilled fauy acids and glycerine. Har-risons Malaysian Plantation Bhd.(HMPB) owned 30% of Jomalina atthat time; by 1986, Jomalina was awholly owned subsidiary of HMPB. InFebruary 1990, HMPB changed itsname to Golden Hope Plantations Bhd.Thus, HOM currently is a joint venturecompany owned by Henkel KGaA andGolden Hope Plantations Bhd.

To use the crude glycerine pro-duced at its facility. HOM in late 1988established a wholly owned sub-sidiary, Henkel Kimianika (M) Sdn.Bhd., to refine the glycerine. HOMhas further invested in a fractionationunit at Henkel Kimianika to producefatty acids, methyl esters and fattyalcohols. In addition, HOM in July1989 acquired Henkel KGaA's whollyowned subsidiary, Henkel Chemicals(Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., which dcmesti-caUy markets oleochemical deriva-tives from other Henkel affiliatesworldwide as well as products fromHOM and its subsidiaries.

By early 1990, there were six 0100-chemical plants in operation inMalaysia, representing a total annualcapacity of approximately 200,OCIOto250,0CI0 metric tons (MD, accordingto ASEAN palm oil and oleochemicalgroups. These included Acidchem(30,000 MT fauy acids and 6.000 MTglycerine); HOM (36.000 MT);Unichema Malaysia (currently 60,000MD; Ak.zo & Pacific Oleo ChemicalsSdn. Bhd. in Pasir Gudang, JohorState, established as a joint venture in1987 by Akzc and Lam Soon Malay-sia/Johor State Economic Develop-ment Corp. (15,000 MT fatty acidsand 1,500 MT glycerine); SouthernAcids (M) Bhd. (30,000 MT fattyacids and 3,000 MT glycerine); andPalmchem (M) Bhd. (30,000 MTcapacity).

Malaysia's Industrial Master Plan(IMP) calls for an increase to 7S0,000MT of oleochemical capacity by 1995,which would mean an increase ofapproximately 500,000 MT during thenext five years. Speed said projects

-

, IIII

Acldch«n'. laityoeld pIont at Pfal,

""""'"recently announced represent addingapproximately 200.000 MT of fattyacid capacity during the next twoyears, and industry pundits expectprojects representing at least another100,000 MT will be announced soon.Thus, 500,000 MT per year capacityfeasibly could be on line by the year1992, Speed said, noting, "If the eco-nomic climate remains favorable, theIMP target for 1995 may not be out ofthe question."

Several projects have come on-sire-am during 1990. The first isFatty Chemical (Malaysia) Sdn.

Bhd. Under a 1988 joint ventureagreement, Kao Corp. and Palmcoconstructed a fatty alcohol, methylester and glycerine plant at Palmcc'soleochemieal facility in Malaysia.Fatty Chemical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.,70% owned by Kao of Japan, has arated capacity of nearly 70,000 MTper year. Also, Unichema Malaysiahas added two new ester productionfacilities.

Meanwhile, several local refinersand plantation companies haveannounced plans 10 form joint ven-tures with foreign investors for addi-tional facilities.

In mid-1989, Procter & GambleCo. (P&G) announced it was forminga joint venture called FPG Oleochemi-eels Sdn. Bhd. to build a SSG-millionnatural fatty alcohol and glycerineplant at Kuantan, a port city in PahangProvince, with production to begin inearly 1992. Designed capacity will beapproximately 40,000 MT per year.P&G's partner in the firm is FeldaMills Corporation, a subsidiary of theMalaysian Federal Land DevelopmentAuthority (Felda). Felda will supplypalm kernel oil from its Kuantan plantas feedstock for the new facility,which will use proprietary naturalalcohol technology developed byP&G. P&G has 50% ownership in theventure.

Felda currently produces about20% of Malaysia's palm kernel oilwith 1988 production of 348,000 MT.Felda's largest crushing plant. locatedin Kuantan, can process 72,000 MT ofpalm kernel per year. Plans are toexport most of the products to theUnited States, Europe, Japan and Sin-gapore for use in detergents, sham-poos and other industrial products.P&G's Chemical Division will marketthe natural alcohols produced.

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Meanwhile, in March 1990, Palm-co signed a joint venture agreementwith Danisco A/S, Grindsted Prod-ucts, of Denmark, 10 construct a man-ufacturing plant in the Prai IndustrialComplex, Penang, to produce foodand industrial esters. The new ventureis called Palmodan Sendirian Berhad.

According 10 Roy 1. de Vries.Palmco Group oleochemical advisor,the project is the firs! of its kind in theregion and will enhance Patmco'sposition as a leading olecchemicalproducer. Both Palmco and DaniscoA/S hold 50% equity in Palmodan.The capital investment for the initialplant is expected to be 27 millionMalaysian dollars. The plant is sched-uled to start production by the secondhalfer 1991.

Industrial products to be producedat the plant will include esters for cos-metics. plastics and pharmaceuticalsas well as food esters. Plans are 10export most of the products 10 Asia.the Far East and Australasia. Palm-odan Sendirian Berhad will userefined palm oil, fatty acids and glyc-erine supplied by Acidchem. PalmcoOil Mill and Palmex, wholly ownedsubsidiaries of Palmco. This will fur-ther enhance downstream integrationwithin the subsidiaries, which are rela-tively close to each other in Penang.

Even more recently, Akzo & Pacif-ic Oleochemicals has announced itwill construct an additional 30,000MT per year oleochemical plant at itscurrent manufacturing site in Johor.Construction is to begin in the thirdquarter of 1990, with completionanticipated by mid-1992. The plant,which will be based on Lurgi technol-ogy, will process palm kernel andpalm oil into distilled and fractionatedacids and refined glycerine. A sub-stantial part ofproduction will be usedcaptively by the parent companies-Akzo and Lam Soon Malaysia/JohorState Economic Development Corp.-and exponed 10 Europe, Japan and theU.S.

Also, under a joint agreement ven-ture signed in February 1989, HOM iserecting a fatty alcohols and glycerinefacility-Henkel Rika (M) Sdn.Bhd.-in Malaysia. HOM has a 55%share in the venture. Other partnersare New Japan Chemical Co. Ltd. of

Japan (25% share). a leading oleo-chemical manufacturer in Japan. andLucky Ltd. (20% share), SouthKorea's largest chemical manufactur-er. The facility is slated to start up in1991, with the capacity to produceapproximately 30.000 MT of fattyalcohols per year from palm kerneloil.

In addition, according to PORIM,Pan-Century Oleochemicals andNalim Sdn. Bhd. each plans to beonstream in late 1991 with 60,000 MTof fatty acid and 6.000 MT of glycer-ine capacity per year. Pan-CenturyOleochemicals, fonned by Pan-Centu-ry Edible Oils Sdn. Bhd .. has contract-ed with De Smel S.E. Asia/De SmetMalaysia to supply engineering andequipment, including Badger Co. 'soleochemical technology. Accordingto De Smet. the plant being suppliedwill be one of the largest of its kind,with a single fat-splitting tower capa-ble of producing 200 MT per day. Theplant, which will use palm kernel oiland palm stearin as feedstock. willinclude a 125-MT-per-day distillatefatty acid fractionation unit and capac-ity to produce 25 MT per day of phar-maceutical-grade glycerine. The facil-ity will be adjacent to Pan-CenturyEdible Oils Sdn. Bhd. in Pas irGudang, Johor.

Meanwhile, in July, the Interna-tional Finance Corp. agreed to invest$8.7 million in the Malaysian compa-ny Twenty-First Century Oleochemi-cals Sdn. Bhd. which has plans to con-struct a hydrolysis plant in Johor toproduce fatty acids and glycerine frompalm-based feedstock. The new facili-ty will have the capacity to process125 MT per day of feedstock frompalm kernel oil. palm fatty acid distil-late and palm stearin. Twenty-FirstCentury Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd. is asubsidiary of Twenty-First CenturyOils Sdn. Bhd. which owns and oper-ates a palm oil refinery in Malaysia.

Lion Corp. of Japan has two soap-and detergent-related joint ventures inMalaysia. One is Southern Lion Sdn.Bhd., which produces 10,000 MT ofdetergents a year, is a joint venturewith Lam Soon Co. Lion holds 50%share in this venture. The other isPacific Soap Manufacturing Sdn.Bhd., which produces soap, is a jointventure with Pacific Edible Oil;Lion's share is 15%.

PhilippinesAlthough Malaysia's olecchernicalindustry is expanding rapidly, the firstoleochemical ventures in the ASEANregion occurred in the Philippines.The first project, undertaken by the

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The company began operating a plantat Jasaan in 1979. producing fattyalcohols from coconut oil. Productsfrom the approximately 25.000·MT·per-year plant are supplied 10 KaoJapan and abroad.

Pilipinas Kao Inc. earlier this yearcompleted construction of a tertiary

surfactants and detergents. totalling1,400 MT per year using a multi-pur-pose reactor. according 10 Alfredo D.Yniguez Jr.. executive vice president,director and general manager of Pili-pinas Kao.

D&L Industries Inc .• established in1971. started oleochemical production

Philippine National Bank (PNB) andthe National Investment DevelopmentCorp. (NIDC) in cooperation withcoconut planters. was begun in 1967.This resulted in a methyl ester. fattyalcohol and butyl coco-phthalate facil-ity at Lucena. province of Quezon,with the plant and technology sup-plied by Kao Corp. of Japan. Theentire production of 3.600 MT of fattyalcohol per year was converted intoBCP plasticizer. Colgate-PalmolivePhilippines Inc. purchased this plantin 1984.

The region's second oleochemicalplant was established in the Philip-pines at Atimonan. province of Que-zon. This joint venture between NewJapan Chemicals. Toyo Menka Kaishaof Japan. NIDC and a number of fil-ipino entrepreneurs first produced7.200 MT of methyl ester per year;annual capacity has since beenexpanded to 12,000 MT. with theadditional production of various cocoamides.

The third project was Pilipinas KaoInc .• established in January 1977 andheadquartered in Manila. PilipinasKao is 70% owned by Kao and 30%by the local Aboitiz corporate group.

Pilipinas Kao Inc. earlier this yearcompleted a tertiary amine production

facility on Mindanao.

amine production facility at its Jasaanplant site in Cogayan de Oro, Min-danao, the Philippines. The new5,000-MT-per-year plant manufac-tures product earmarked solely forexport. Tertiary amine, a value-addedproduct of fatty alcohols. is the starl-ing material for cationic surfactants.which are used as fabric softeners.hair rinses. germicides and levelingagents.

Pilipinas Keo also produces otherdownstream products such as monoalkyl phosphate and various types of

in 1983 and currently produces 6.000MT of coconut methyl ester, 4.000MT of coco diethanolamide. 2,000MT of coco monoethanolamide and2,000 MT of glycerine a year.

Cccochem. established in 1984. isconstructing an additional alcoholplant. rated at nearly 30,000 MTcapacity for a 1990 start. Cocochem'stotal annual capacity is nearly 70.000MT of fatty acids per year and 30.000MT of fatty alcohol.

Meanwhile. the Chern phil Grouphas installed a 12.000-MT-per-year

Project timetable1990

Unichema Taiwan established in TaiwanFatty Chemical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. began production in Malaysia

PrAU joint venture coming onstream in IndonesiaTwo new ester production facilities added by Unichema lntemational in Malaysia

P.T. Lion lndojaye doubles capacity in IndonesiaPilipinas Kao Inc. completes tertiary amine production facility in the Philippines

Additional Cocochem alcohol plant comes onsueam in the PhilippinesChemphil Group sulfonerion plant begins operation in the Philippines

Yukoku industries LAS plant goes on line in TaiwanLion Oleochemical Co. methyl ester factory set for completion

1991Henkel Rika (M) Sdn. Bhd. to begin operations in Malaysia

Palmodan Sendirian Berhad to produce food and industrial esters in MalaysiaPan-Century Edible Oils Sdn. Bhd. and Nalim Sdn. Bhd. oleochemical projects 10 come on line in Malaysia

1992FPG Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd. 10 be completed in Malaysia

Additional Akzo & Pacific Oleochemicals oleochemical plant 10 come onstream in MalaysiaThai Alkylate Co. LAB facility set for completion

Procter & Gamble headquarters in Japan expected to be completed

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When H.ok.a oleo·chemical pion!(above) In MoIoysIa~1n19a1.goYemrnenI otIIclollf«.,...ed IoI..w endbriefing (left) of 1Mnew toellity.

sulfonation plant near Manila. Thefacility. 10 go into operation during1990. will produce alkylbenzene andcoconut fatty alcohol sulphate for bothdomestic and export markets.

Also, a second glycerine refining-only pion! is coming on line. This is ajoint venture between Toyo MenkaLtd. lind a local producer of crude oil,Sakamoto Orient Chemical Corpora-tion. The existing refining plant in thePhilippines is operated by HimmelCompany.

Companies in thc Philippines thaibelong 10 the ASEAN OleochemicalManufacturers' Group (AOMG) in-clude Colgate-Palmolive Philippines.D&L Industries Inc .. Pilipinas KaoInc., Proton Chemical Industries Inc.and United Coconut Chemicals Inc.

IndonesiaIndonesia is emerging as an oleo-chemical producer using palm as feed-stock. In 1989, Vista Chemical Co.based in the United States furtherpositioned itself as a global integratedproducer and supplier of surfactantsby establishing Indo Vista ChemicalCo. Ltd .. a joint venture marketingeffort based in Singapore. This com-pany, jointly owned with the SinarMas Inti Group of Indonesia. beganmarketing alcohols and derivativesthroughout Asia in fiscal year 1989.establishing Vista's presence in prepa-ration for marketing production froma natural alcohols plant, PTAU, underconstruction in Medan, NorthernSumatra, Indonesia.

Vista maintains an option to pur-chase up to a 25% share in this alco-hol plant and associated feedstockfacilities. PTAU is scheduled to startup around September 1990. PTAUwill have the capacity to producenearly 30.000 MT per year. Sales fromthe new facility will be directed main-ly \0 Southeast Asian and Far Eastmarkets.

Meanwhile, Lion Corp has fonneda joint venture with P.T. Cipta SegarHarum Co. of Indonesia. Lion holds48% of the venture, called P.T. LionIndojaya. In the venture. Lion is dou-bling capacity of a factory at Puro-gadung. with plans 10 begin producingtoiletries, shampoos and detergentsduring 1990.

Other oleochemical companies inIndonesia include P.T. Sumi Asih andPT. Cisadane Raya Chemicals, whichboth belong to AOMG.

TaiwanIn March 1990, Unichema Interna-tional, part of the Unilever SpecialtyChemicals Group. strengthened itspresence in Southeast Asia by estab-lishing a new company-UnichemaTaiwan-at Chungli City, close toTuipeh. Initially. production was toconcentrate on fatty acids, glycerineand specialty soap bases. with furtherexpansion into specialty esters andother oleochemical derivatives.

Unichema purchased the facility,previously used for manufacturingdetergents. from Formosa UnitedIndustrial Corporation. This marksUnicherna's third production site inAsia Pacific, with other operations in

Malaysia and Australia. Unicbema'ssplitting capacity in the region willtotal 250.000 MT per year by 1991following its ester facility additions inMalaysia.

Meanwhile, in surfactant-relateddevelopments. Kao Corp. in 1989completed a detergent facility in Tai-wan which is based on its concentrat-ed detergent production technology,and also expanded the market for its"Attack" brand to include Malaysia.Kuc already had established marketsfor the detergent in Taiwan, HongKong and Singapore. Also. Lion Corp.in 1989 announced a joint venture-Yukoku Industries-to produce linearalkyl benzene sulfonate (LAS). Theventure constructed a plant in theKannon district. Toen Prefecture. togo online in 1990. Lion has two otherjoin! ventures in Taiwan: Lion Fat &Oil (Taiwan) Co. Ltd., producing

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operations in Australia, Indonesia.Taiwan and Thailand.

Lion oleochemical subsidiaries inJapan include Lion Akzo Co.: LionChemical Co" producing alkyJolamide and alcohol ethoxylate: andIpposha Fat & Oil Co .. producing spe-cialty surfactants. Lion Akze. which

detergents and shampoo: and TaiwanLion Chemistry Co. LId .. producingtoothpaste.

ThailandIn September 1989. companies inJapan's Mitsubishi Group announcedthey would join U.S" Dutch and Thaiinterests in creating a joint venture inThailand to produce linear alkyl ben-zene (LAB) for detergent use.

Mitsubishi Group owns 27% of thenew company. called Thai AlkylateCo. Other shares and owners are 5%by Mitsubishi Petrochemical Co.: and16% each by-Lion Corp. of Japan:Colgate-Palmolive (Thailand) LId.. asubsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive(U.S.): and Lever Brothers (Thailand)Ltd .. an affiliate of Unilever. Also.Kiani Group, a Thai financial con-cern, owns 20% in the new company.

Construction of the company'splant, with capacity to produce 40.000MT of linear alkyl benzene a year. wusto begin in May 1990. with comple-tion set for mid-\992. The plant isbeing constructed in Rayong. about100 miles south of Bangkok.

Meanwhile. Imperial IndustrialChemicals (Thailand) Co. Ltd. oper-ates an oleochemicul facility at NevaNakom Industrial Estate in Patum-thani Province. approximately 50 kilo-meters north of Bangkok. Imperial.with an annual processing capacity of10.000 MT. has produced distilled.hydrogenated and fractionated fattyacids and glycerine since 1982. Itsplant'S include splitting, distillation.fractional distillation and hydrogena-tion capabilities. with captive produc-tion of hydrogen gas. The glycerineplant includes treatment. evaporation.distillation and refining.

Imperial also holds a license tomanufacture 3.000 MT per year ofmetallic soaps. PCV stabilizers andfatty acid esters. Production of theseoleochemicals started in late 1988.

JapanIn Japan. total oleochemical cepecnyis approximately 350.000 MT peryear. according to Roy de Vries.

Lion Oleochemical Co .. fonned asa wholly owned subsidiary of LionCorp. in 1989. manufactures cosmet-ics. pharmaceuticals. soaps. edible oils

Unit..:! Coconut Ctt.mk::oI, complloJl In 8ounon, 8otangos, The Philippines

and food additives. This new companywill be responsible for the Lion facto-ry under construction in the Sakaidedistrict of Shikoku. Japan. The plant.which is expected to be completed bylate 1990. will produce natural curo-rene and mcthyl esters as intermediatematerials for soups. detergents and

In Japan, total oleochemical capacityis approximately 350,000 MT per year

- de Vries

other industrial products. Raw mareri-als will include palm and palm kerneloil imported from Southeast Asiancountries to produce 70.{X)() MT ofmethyl esters per year. Constructioncost is estimated 10 be 25 billion yen.

Although Lion Corp. has noinvolvement with Henkel KG:tA withregard to oleochemicals in theASEAN region. Lion Corp. andHenkel KGaA in late 1986 formedLion Henkel Corp .. a joint venturecompany for soaps and toiletriesbased in Tokyo. Lion holds 51%. withHenkel holding the remaining 49%.Henkel itself lUIS lin oleochcmicalderivative racility in Japan whichcame cnstreeru during 1989. In addi-tion, Henkel has smaller derivative

was established in the 1960s. has twofany amines and derivatives produc-tion facilities in Sakai and Yokk.aichiin Japan. and an office in Tokyo.

Kao Corp. has two fauy chemicalfacilities in Japan. A plant at wekeya-rna. completed in 1988. producesfauy acids. glycerine and higher alco-hols: its Kashima plant produces fauyacids.

Unichema International in 1990opened a second sales office in Japan:its two offices are in Tokyo andOsaka.

Vista Chemical Co. also has a salesoffice in Tokyo.

Procter & Gamble. meanwhile. isbuilding a technical center and head-quarters in Rckko Island, Japan. a city

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being constructed in Osaka Bay. Thenew center, slated for completion in1992, will consolidate the company'sJapan operations.

portion of the products exported.FACB supplies palm oil feedstocksfrom Malaysia for the facility.

200,000 MT per year plant, whichbegan production in December. islocated in Novomoskowsk nearMoscow. Also involved in the projectwere two other Japanese ccmpa-nies-Sumitomo Corp. (a large trad-ing company) and JOC Corp. (anengineering firm).

Soviet UnionKao Corp. of Japan in 1989 completedthe construction of a joint venturedetergent facility-the world'slargest-in the Soviet Union. The

SingaporeIn 1987. Ethoxylates ManufacturingPte. Ltd. constructed a facility on theisland of Pulau Ayer Merbau. Singa-pore. to manufacture ethoxylated non-ionic surfactants. Ethoxylates Manu-facturing is a joint venture betweenP.T. Prima Inti Perkasa of Indonesiaand Albright & Wilson (Marchon)Pte. Ltd. of Singapore. The facilityproduces fatty alcohol ethoxylates,prime raw materials for manufacturingliquid detergents and textile auxil-iaries. The facility has a rated capacityof 18,000 MT per year. A major por-tion of planned production is to besold within Southeast Asia.

In 1988. K & FS Pte. Ltd .• based inSingapore. was established by Kawak-en Fine Chemical Co .• Fuji Oil Co. ofJapan and Fuji Oil Singapore Co. toproduce and sell alkanol amides foruse as raw materials in surfactants.The firm built a production facilitynear Fuji Oil Singapore's factory.Annual capacity is 2,500 MT of thesurfactant intermediate made frompalm kernel oil supplied by Fuji OilSingapore. The resulting products aresold in Asia. Europe and America.

Meanwhile, Lion Corp. owns LionHome Products Ptd. Ltd. in Singaporewhich manufactures soap, shampooand detergents. Lion also has 98.7%share in Lion Home Products (Interna-tional) Ltd. based in Hong Kong,which produces detergents as well.

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ChinaSunnyland Industries Ltd. of HongKong. a wholly owned subsidiary ofFirst Allied Corp. Bhd. (FACB), in1987 signed a joint venture contractwith Dalian Oil and Fat ChemicalPlant and Dalian International Compa-ny Lid. establishing an oleochemicalplant in Dalian, China. Dalian FirstOleochem Ltd .. the resulting jointventure company, became China'sfirst facility 10 use palm oil productsas a major feedstock.

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INFORM. Vol. 1, no. 9 (September 1990)

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Oleochemical world focuses on Kuala LumpurThe international oleochemical industry's attention willtum toward Southeast Asia next month as the World Con+terence on Oleochemicals: lnrc the 21st Century will bebeld Oct. 7-12. 1990, in the Kuala Lumpur Hilton Hotel inMalaysia's capital city.

Malaysia's minister of primary industries, Lim KengYaik, will attend the opening ceremonies. Opening keynotespeakers will be Noordin Sopiec of Malaysia's Institute ofStrategic and international Studies, on "Political Eco-nomics of the Nations Producing Tropical Oils" andAnthony Kaufman. of Henkel Corporation's Emery Group,on "OJeochemicals: A World Overview."

Southeast Asia is a logical locale for the conference forat least two reasons (a) lauric oils from tropical sourcessuch as coconut and palm kernel comprise a major rawmaterial for oleochemicals worldwide, and (b) since themid 1980s, many of the world's newest oleochemical pro-duction facilities have been built in the region, often repre-senting joint ventures between companies from SoutheastAsian nations.

General chairman for the conference is E.e. Leonard,vice president and general manager for the Humke Chemi-

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INFORM. Vol. 1. no. 9 (September 1990)

cal Division of Witco Corporation in Memphis, Tennessee,U.S,A. Local chairperson is Abdul Halim Hassan, directorgeneral for PORIM. Other members of the advisory com-mittee include A.S,H, Ong. former director general andnow an adviser to PORIM: A.D, Yniguez Jr., chairpersonof the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)Oleochemical Manufacturers' Group (AOMG); R.J. deVries. coordinating chairperson. the Southeast Asia group;and J.e. Lyon. AOCS executive director.

Abstracts for plenary session technical papers followthis article. Also provided are descriptions of exhibits, pro-vided by the exhibitors. in the accompanying exposition.

Plenary session topics include (a) marketing and eco-nomics of oteocbernicals: (b) raw materials; (c) processing:and (d) applications of oleochemicals. Volunteer paperswill be presented during poster sessions to be held in anarea close to the exposition. A proceedings of plenarypapers and selected volunteer papers will be published nextyear by the American Oil Chemists' Society (AOCS).

The AOCS. PORIM and AOMG are primary sponsorsfor the meeting, with suppon provided by fats and oilsorganizations around the world.

There will be no technical sessions or exhibit hours onWednesday. Oct. 10, to pennit registrants to participate infield trips. Registrants may choose among half-day trips 10an oil palm plantation, a palm oil refinery or the Palm OilResearch Institute of Malaysia facilities: the founh optionis a full-day visit to an oleochemical processing plant.

Social events include a welcoming mixer on Sundayevening. Oct. 7, in the exhibit area and a dinner on Thurs-day evening. Oct. II. in the Hilton. There is no plannedspouses' program. but persons accompanying technicalregistrants will be able to buy tickets for daily sightseeingtours organized by a local tourist agency.

A suppliers' exposition will fonn part of the world con-ference. giving registrants a chance to see the latest inequipment and supplies available to the industry.

The exhibit will be open from 16.00 to 19.00 hours onSunday. Oct. 7; 09.00 to 17.00 on Monday and Tuesday,Oct. 8 and 9, and from 09.00 to 15.00 on Thursday, Oct.11. The exhibit will be closed on Wednesday, Oct. 10, andFriday. Oct. 12.

Exhibit to feature latest from suppliersAg Kuhnle, Kopp & Kausch/Da1ex Sdn. Bhd., PO Box12212.50770 Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia (Booth 33). Estab-lished 80 years ago. Ag Kuhnle. Kopp & Kausch is inter-nationally known as a manufacturer of turbomach.inerywhich includes steam turbines. fans and compressors andexhaust gas turbochargers. The exhibit will feature a rangeof steam turbines including the Single Stage Turbine CFRfor all mechanical drive applications like pumps and com-pressors as well as alternators for the palm oil industry.Dalex supplies complete machinery and tum-key plants for

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many companies around Europe including Amandus KahlNachf., Becker Antriebe GmbH, Electro Power Gears,Extraktionstechnik, Ag Kuhnle, Kapp & Kausch, Usine deWecker S.a.f.!. and Rheonik GmbH.

Alfa-Laval (M) Sdn. Bhd., PO Box 83, Section 16 PostOffice, Shah Alam, 40700 Seiangor, Malaysia (36). On dis-play will be equipment for fatty acids fractionation byLipofrac principle. such as spiral heal exchanger, plate healexchanger, centrifugal separator (model or poster) andpressure cooler (model or poster).

American Colloid Company, 1500 W. Shure Dr.. Arling-ton Heights, lL 60004 USA (35), American Colloid Co.will present its Clarion Adsorbent System product lineincluding specialty products for various applications. Tech-nical support will be available for discussion of your spe-cific application.

ASEAN Oleochemical Manufacturers' Group, c/oAOMG Secretariat, 108-A E, Rodriquez, Jr. Avenue, Libis,Quezon Cil)', Philippines (I, 2 & 3). The booth will repre-sent all of the oleochemical manufacturers in the Asianregion. Both palm and coconut as raw materials will befeatured. The following products will be on display: fattyacids and fractions of various purities, stearic acid, methylesters, fatty alcohol, alkanolamides, glycerine and soapnoodles.

Atlas Industries AlS, Baltorpvej 160, DK-2750 Ballerup,Denmark (14). Atlas Industries develops and manufacturesdry condensing systems used for distillation, fractionation,deodorization and other processes in the edible oil industry.The Atlas Industries Dry Condensing System minimizesvolume of waste water to be discharged to help increaseprofit and solve environmental problems.

Beaver Contromatic, 35, Tannery Rd., Tannery Block.#04-05 Ruby Industrial Complex, 1334 Singapore (25). Ondisplay will be a range of Bellows Sealed Globe Valves, 3-piece ball valves and actuators. These valves are availablein exotic materials and are particularly suited for high tem-perature, high pressure and leaktight shut-off applications.Actuators are available in pneumatic and electric versions.

Buss AG, Switzerland, c/o their agents Cosa Lieber-mann (5) Pte. Ltd., 122 Middle Road. #08-02 MidlinkPlaza, Singapore 0718 (37 & 38).

The Chemithon Corporation, 5430 W. Marginal Way.SW, Seattle, WA 98106 USA (26). Chemithon's exhibitwill feature continuous sulfonationjsulfation plants to pro-duce surfactants for the detergent, specialty chemicals andpetroleum industries. Samples of sulfonic acid and sulfatedacid from commercial plants will be displayed. Graphicsand photographs will illustrate the process and equipment.

Costruzioni Meccaniche Bernardini C.M.B. S.p.A., Viadei Castelli Romani, 2L, 00040 Pomezia (Rome), Italy (4

& 5). Cosrruztont Meccaniche Bernardini C.M.B., nowpart of Ballestra Group, a world manufacturer of plants fordetergents. has grown in the manufacture of plants for pro-duction of fatty acids, glycerine and oleochemicals overthe last few years. Scale models and photos will be exhibit-ed and technical information will be provided.

De Smel (Malaysia). Sdn. Bhd., No. 49, Jalan SS 15/4B,Subang Jaya. 47500 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan,Malaysia (29). De Smet (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. jointly withBadger Engineers Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts,with its latest oleochemicals technology provides completedesign and engineering of oleochemical plants for fat split-ting, fatty acid distillation and fractionation, sweet waterevaporation, glycerine refining and bleaching.

Eberhard Heesch & Sohne GmbH & Co., Hunenstrasse31, 0-5160 DUren, West Germany (16 & 17). Hoesch spe-cializes in complete solutions for the edible oil and fatindustries including filtration and separation, membranefilter presses to separate stearin from olein with anincreased yield of oiein, agitators for crystallizers and sideentry mixers for tanks.

Engelhard De Meern B.V., Strijkviertel 67, PO Box 19,3454 ZG De Meem, The Netherlands (i2 & i3). Engel-hard's range of catalysts for the oleochemical industryincludes: fatty acids (Nysofact 99, Nysofact 101 IQ,"New" Nysofact 120-developed to meet the mostdemanding needs); fauy amines (Ni 5132 P, Ni 5133 0,"New" Ni 5189 D-ultra selective secondary amines cata-lyst); fatty alcohols (Cu i950 P, Cu 1955 P, Cu 1980 P[new), Cu 1985 P [new], "New" Cu 0890 P-nonchromi-urn containing catalyst to solve catalyst disposal problems)and triglyceride hydrogenation (Nysosel Ill, Nysoset 222."New" SP-IO--high trails-isomer catalyst for coaling fatsproduction fCBS}).

Extraktionslechnik GmbH, Humboldrsuasse 56, 0-2000Hamburg 76, West Germany (34). Extraktionstechnik willfeature their latest technology in the extraction, refiningand downstream processes for edible oils and fats. Theexhibit will feature the following: SLF physical refiner,LTC pollution control and energy conservation, oilseedexpeller press extraction, presosel extraction for coffeeprocess and furfural extraction from empty bunch. Techni-cal representatives will be available to discuss specificproblems and applications.

Glitsch Inc., PO Box 660053, Dallas, TX 75266-0053USA (18). On display will be the company's mass transfercolumn internals including trays, random packings andstructured packings.

Henkel Oleochemicals (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., PO Box122. Telok Panglima Garang. 42507 Selangor, Malaysia(20 & 21). Henkel is a joint-venture between HenkelKGaA, Germany, and Golden Hope Plantations Bhd.,Malaysia, producing fatty acids and methyl esters from

INFORM, Vol. 1, no. 9 (September 1990)

WORLD CONFERENCE

palm oil products. Its subsidiaries are Henkel Kimianika.which produces refined glycerine. and Henkel Rika, a jointventure between Henkel Oleochemicals (55%) and NewJapan Chemical Co. Ltd., Japan (25%) and Lucky Ltd.,Korea (20%). which manufactures fatty alcohols. Anothersubsidiary, Henkel Chemicals (M) Sdn. Bhd., is involvedin the importation and distribution of oleochemical deriva-tives in the domestic market. The exhibit will feature theabove range of basic oleochemical products and theirderivatives which are used in the soaps, detergents. toi-letries. cosmetics. surface coatings. plastics. textiles andlubricant industries.

I.M.S.A. Impianti Macchine Sapone Affini SRL, POBox 401. 21052 Busto Arsizio. haly (6). I.M.S.A. is aworldwide supplier to the soap and synthetic industry.They provide complete plant design and equipment from250 to 5.000 kg/hr. They manufacture tum-key installa-tions for saponification plants (batch or continuous). vacu-um drying systems. toilet or laundry soap finishing plants,syndet bars and liquid detergent plants.

Kortlng Hannover AG, Badenstedterstrasse 56. D-3000Hannover. West Germany (24). Kcrting Hannover suppliessteam jet ejectors for the edible oil industry. mainly forrefining. extraction. esterification. hydrogenation and dry-ing; vacuum cooling systems; dry condensing vacuum sys-tems and single ejectors (liquid. steam or gas driven) forevery kind of process. Photos and models of the productionprogram will be exhibited.

Lurgi GmbH, PO Box 11 12 31. 6000 Frankfurt am MainII, West Gennany (22 & 23). Lurgi will exhibit jointlywith Jebsen & Jessen Engineering (M) Sdn. Bhd. ofMalaysia.

Mallinckrodt Specialty Chemicals Co., PO Box 5439, SI.Louis, MO 63147 USA (30). Mallinckrodt will exhibit thedescriptive product literature for its line of Calsicat cata-lysts-nickel catalyst droplets for fatty acids. copperchrornite and nickel catalysts for fatty alcohols and fanyamines. Samples will also be on display.

Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia, PO Box 10620,50720 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (8).

Procter & Gamble, Chemicals Division, PO Box 599,Cincinnati, OH 45201 USA (II). Procter & Gamble is aproducer of oleochemicals derived from natural fats andoils. P&G chemicals include fatty alcohols, glycerine, fanyacids and methyl esters. The exhibit will feature infonna-tion on P&G's new natural alcohol plant under construc-tion in Kuantan, Malaysia. The plant is being built in ajoint venture with Felda Mills.

Rosemount Instruments Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., U.M.B.C.Annex Tower. 15th Roor. Box 72. Jalan Sulaiman. 50000Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (9 & 10). The exhibit will high.light the distributed control system, the Rosemount System

ANEWNAME INOLEOCHEMICALS

The De Smet Group, a world leader in ogro·industriolengineering ond contracting, ond a specialist in alloscects of edible oil processing, can now supply acomprehensive range of processes for the world's

oleochemials industries.De Smet can now offer technology from the BadgerCo. lnc., U.S.A. Bodser, a Raytheon compony, is on

international engineering and construction firm and alraditionalleoder in oIeochemicol fXocessing forindustrial use. Badger is furnishing technology

through De Smet's commercial worldwide networlc:

"'"• nan-catalytic fat splitting• pharmaceutical glycerine production• fally acid distillation/fractionation

Badger's proven designs and De Smet's projectmanagement skills and lacal expertise hove alreadyresulted in major reference plonts in South Eost Asio.

In addition, De Smet can else offer the very latesttechnology for:

• fatty acid hydrogenation• olein/steorin froctionotion

Extraction De SmetPrins Boudewijnlaon 265, 8·2520 Edegem, Antwerp,

Belgium.Tel, 32/3/449A2AO Tk 3182A OfSMET 8

Fax, 32/3/449A2OATHE WAY AHEAD IN WORLD QUALITY

793

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WORLD CONFERENCE

ucneuon, glycerine evaporation, glycerine distillation, fatsplitting and oil deacidification/deodorization.

3, one of the most advanced process control systems. AJsoon display will be a range of field instruments for pressure,temperature and flow measurement. According to the com-pany, the Micro-Motion Massflowmeter is the world's firstdirect mass flowmeter.

Sud-Chemie AG, Postfach 20 22 40. 8000 Munchen 2,West Germany (27 & 28). From the Sud-Chemic Group,three companies will be present at the exhibit. NissenGirdler Catalyst Co. Ltd .. Tokyo. will propagate their nick-el catalysts program for the hydrogenation of oils and fats.P.T. Sud-Chemic Indonesia will offer their bleaching earthsprogram for refining and will emphasize the quality oftheir products. Sud-Chernie AG, Munich, will display theircopper-chromite catalysts for the hydrogenation of fatty

Schmidding- Werke, Wilhelm Schmidding GmbH &Co., Posrfach 60 08 80, 5000 Koln 60, West Gennany (7).Schmidding-Werke specializes in the planning, manufac-ture and commissioning of complete distillation plants forthe separation of substances sensitive 10 heal such as fatryacid distillation, fatty acid fractionation. fatty alcohol frac-

Custom Built ElectrolyticPlants and Generators

With over 760 installationsin more than 87 countries,The Electrolyser Corporationis the world's leader inefficiency, reliability andsafety.The unique, patented StuartCell ensures virtuallymaintenance-free operationyear after year. Electrolyser

plants enjoy a proven safetyrecord and are fullyautomated, requiring aminimum of supervision.Electrolyser designs,manufactures and installsthroughout the world,custom plants andgenerators providing outputfrom 50 to 200,000 CFH.

For further information.please contact:THEELECTRoLYSERCORPORATIONLTD.122 The West MallEtobicoke, Ontario M9C lE9Telephone: (416)621·9410Telex: Electrclye 06-967771Fax: (416! 621-9830

INFORM. Vol. 1. no. 9 (September 1990)

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World Conference Abstracts

acid esters and fauy acid methyl esters as well as for thedirect hydrogenation of Iats and oils in the fore.

Westfalia Separator (M) Sdn. Bhd., T.S.T. No. 23. Peja-bat Pos Damansara Jaya, 47409 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia(19). Westfalia Separator produces equipment in the fieldof centrifugal separation technology. They offer forward-looking solutions. with individual machines or integratedin complete process lines.

Manufacture of Hydraulic 8rake-Fluids for AutomotiveIndustry.Manjit Ananad, A. Chaturvedi. R.K. Khanna and R,P. Singh. Har-court Butler Technological Institute. Kanpur 208002. India.

The automotive hydraulic brake-fluids are useful and impor-tent in performance of hydraulic brake systems in light and heavyduty vehicles. The formulations of the brake-fluids are largelybased on an admixture of a fatly oil and a compatible sclvem sys-tem with additives to impart anti-freezing. anti-foaming. anti-rust-ing. and other desired properties. In this study a variety of formu-lations prepared. using castor oils and appropriate solvent(s) hav-ing carbonyl and hydroxyl functional groups, were tested inaccordance with IS; 8654- I986 applicable in the country. The for-mulations based on this fauy oil and solvent(s) capable of associ-ating with its polar and non-polar ponions of the molecules werefound to satisfy the requirements of the specifications. The theoryand practice of developing such formulations will be discussedduring the presentation of this paper.

A Roadmap Through the Oleochemtcat Jungle.Hermann Beckmann. Engelhard De Meem B.Y.. Chemical Cata-lyst Division. P.O. BOll 19. De Meem, The Netherlands.

An attempt is made to show what type of different oleocherni-cats can be made from triglyceride as a starting material. Espe-cially the derivatives of Iauy alcohols. fatly acids and fattyemmes will be highlighted as well as how 10 produce these oleo-chemicals.

Food Emulsifiers & Some Applications.K.G. Berger. Consultant. 17 Grosvenor Road. London W4 4EQ.England.

Food emulsifier represent a significant use of food grade fattyacids. The present paper deals with some little known applications.

I) Chocolate type coatings for bakery and confectionery prod-ucts are often made with hardened palm kernel oil. They tend tolose their derivable glossy appearance during storage. panicularlyat higher temperatures. The addition of sorbitan rrlsrearare orglyceryl lactcpatmuate enables longer retention of gloss. Thetauer is particularly effective.

2) The properties of biscuits and pastry doughs can be modi-fied by the addition of sodium stearyllactylare or diacetyl tartaricester of monoglycerides (DATEM). These polar emulsifiers givea softer. more easily work ..ble dough. and a shorter eating qualityin the baked product.

The function appears to be due to interaction with the wheatprotein and the water present.

Vokogawa Electric (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Level 20.Amoda Bldg., 22 Jalan 1MB I, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.Malaysia (31 & 32). Yokogawa supplies a range of fieldand panel instruments as well as distributed control system(DCS) for plant-wide automation to various industries suchas oil and gas. palm oil. petrochemical, water treatmentplants. food. textiles and more.

3) The esters of stearic acid with polymerised glycerol havevarying HLB values (hydroplide/lipoplide balance). depending onthe extent of polymerisation of the glycerol. Trlglycercl stearatehas the unique property of enabling a fat continuous food systemcontaining little or no water 10 be aerated with finely dispensedair bubbles. This effect has been applied 10 chocolate coatings andfillings. with interesting effects or eating properties.

The Lauric Oils. Medium Chain Fatty Acid Sources.K.G. Berger. Consultant. 17 Grosvenor Road. London W4 4EQ.England.

The only lauric oils available to the world market are coconutand palm kernel oils. Occasional parcels are traded of a thirdsource of lauric oil from the babassu palm of Brazil. Sources ofsupply world production and export data will be discussed.

The fatty acid composition of the three oils is compared fromrecent analytical surveys. The triglyceride composition is of inter-est in judging the authenticity of supplies. Some components ofthe non glyceride ponion of the oils are also of interest analytical-ly.

In contrast with other vegetable oils, up to half of the lauricoils are used for technical purposes. The medium chain fatty acidsare starting materials for a range of derivatives with useful sur-face active properties in detergents, emulsifiers. cosmetic prod-ucts. lubricants. etc.

Lipid Based Surface Active Compoundsby Enzymatic Esterification.O.K. Bhattacharyya. Chemical Technology Department. CalcuttaUniversity. College of Science and Technology. 92 Acharya Pra-fulla Chandra Road. Calculla-700009, India.

Enzymatic esterification with specific microbial lipase hasbeen investigated in preparing some fatty acid based carbohydrateand amino acid derivatives having surface active properties thaican be utilized for edible and industrial purposes.

Conditions for enzymatic esterification to prepare amino acyl-glycerides of fatty acids and amino acids. fatly acid and aminoacid derivatives of carbohydrates and amino acylared with fattyacids have been established. These include treatment of theappropriate reactants in suitable proportions with 10% by weightof the reactants mucor-miehei lipase at about 600 and 10 m.m.pressure. In preparing the fatty acid and amino acid ester derive-rives of cnrbchydrure dimethylformamide is used. The proceduresto isolate the various products have been standardized involvingthe use of polar and non-polar solvents after filtering off theenzyme dependingen the product nature.

INFORM, Vol. 1, no. 9 (September 1990)