MALAYSIA will be at the forefront of high technology in flexible-pipe making in the Asia-Pacific region when French engineering group Technip starts its plant in Tanjung Langsat near Johor Baru in 2010.
The RM600 million plant will be built by its local unit, Asiaflex Products Sdn Bhd. Technip group president and chief operation officer Bernard Di Tullio performed the groundbreaking ceremony in Johor yesterday.
"This is our third manufacturing facility after Le Trait, France, and Vitoria, Brazil, and it will be the only plant to manufacture flexible pipes in the Asia-Pacific region," he said.
Technip caters to the oil and gas industry, and the new plant is part of plans to strengthen its presence in the sub-sea segment and reinforce its worldwide leadership in the flexible market.
Technip currently holds about 60 per cent of the flexible-pipe market in the world, supplying major oil companies.
Asiaflex Products will focus on the needs of the emerging deep-water oil and gas markets in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region.
The plant has also been designed with an expansion in mind, should the need arise.
It is expected to provide jobs for around 300 people once it starts operations, with an expected annual capacity of 200km of flexible pipes. This will bring Technip's total annual capacity to 1,000km.
Source : Business TImes
