PETALING JAYA: Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd accepted today a letter of intent (LOI) from Mitsui & Co (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to form a partnership for Hong Seng’s nitrile butadiene latex (NBL) business at Kedah Rubber City and tank farm integrated logistics services business at Penang which will further strengthen Malaysia’s dominance in the global glove industry with its world-class technologies and capabilities.
Mitsui is a subsidiary of Japan’s Mitsui & Co Ltd which has a diversified business portfolio that spans 63 countries in Asia, Europe, North, Central & South America, The Middle East, Africa, and Oceania. Mitsui Group has built a strong and diverse core business portfolio covering the mineral and metal resources, energy, machinery and infrastructure, and chemicals industries. The group generated a revenue of ¥8.6 trillion (RM312 billion) for its nine-month financial period ended Dec 31, 2021.
According to the LOI, Mitsui expressed its intention to provide a one-stop supply chain management for feedstocks and raw materials of Hong Seng’s NBL plant, as well as finance and provide raw materials for the tank farm established by Hong Seng’s fully owned subsidiary HS Petchem Sdn Bhd.
Hong Seng group managing director Datuk Seri Teoh Hai Hin said with this partnership, Hong Seng will be able to contribute to the nation in terms of knowledge sharing and new technology transfers to be acquired during the course of the project, which will position Malaysia into becoming the hub for nitrile latex total supply chain from upstream to downstream incorporating advanced technologies and world-class standards.
“We will be developing our RM3 billion NBL project here, which is poised to position Hong Seng as the first public-listed and large-scale nitrile raw material producer in Malaysia. Thus, the partnership that we will form with Mitsui will enable us to leverage on the expertise and global network of Mitsui in the chemical supply industry, while helping to strengthen Mitsui’s market in Malaysia.”
