ExxonMobil starts production at two new multibillion-dollar plants
Singapore's petrochemical industry shifted up a few gears yesterday when American energy giant ExxonMobil started production at two new multibillion-dollar plants.
The huge complexes, which were completed safely and on schedule, employed an army of more than 5,500 contract workers at the peak of the construction.
The two plants have added 140 jobs to ExxonMobil's existing workforce of more than 2,500 at its Singapore manufacturing complex on Jurong Island.
It also employs another 1,500 people here, in support functions.
The new jobs are for higher-skilled employees such as engineers and technicians.
The plants were built under a multi-billion dollar expansion project at the Jurong Island site.
One of the new plants will produce up of 90,000 tonnes a year of the firm's own product - Escorez hydrogenated hydrocarbon resins - making it the world's largest facility of its kind, ExxonMobil said yesterday.
These resins are used in hot-melt adhesives and typically used in diapers.
The second plant will produce up to 140,000 tonnes a year of premium halobutyl rubber that is used in tyres.
ExxonMobil's output here has been scaling up fast. Apart from the start-up of the new plants, the energy major acquired Jurong Aromatics Corporation's Jurong Island plant in August last year. The aromatics plant is one of the largest in the world. - THE STRAITS TIMES
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