ExxonMobil confirms acquisition of Jurong Aromatics Corp

EXXONMOBIL said on Thursday it has reached an agreement to buy over Jurong Aromatics Corporation (JAC), confirming speculation in the market.

The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, presents operational and logistical synergies for ExxonMobil's integrated refining and petrochemical complex nearby, it said.

"Integration of this aromatics plant with ExxonMobil's existing manufacturing facility will provide product and logistical synergies that will enable our continued growth and competitiveness," said ExxonMobil Asia Pacific chairman and managing director Gan Seow Kee.

JAC owns one of the world's largest aromatic plants, with an annual production capacity of 1.4 million tonnes. The acquisition will boost aromatics production from ExxonMobil Singapore - already ExxonMobil's largest integrated refining and petrochemical complex in the world - to over 3.5 million tonnes a year, including 1.8 million tonnes of paraxylene.

JAC, which had cost US$2.4 billion to build, has been under judicial management since September 2015.