PetChem dragged by O&D segment amid challenges

PETRONAS Chemicals managing director and chief executive officer Mazuin Ismail.
PETALING JAYA: Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) sustained its operational performance with a plant utilisation rate of 94% in the first quarter of 2025 (1Q25), but its bottomline was weighed down by its olefins and derivatives (O&D) segment amid a challenging market landscape.
'To maintain our resilience and competitiveness amid the current industry downtrun, we remain focused on driving excellence.
'Our unwavering comitment to safe and efficient operations across all facilities continues, as we are currently undertaking repair and maintenance activities at several O&D and fertilisers and methanol (F&M) plants,' said PetChem managing director and chief executive officer Mazuin Ismail.
He added that the group is closely monitoring the developments with regards to the US tariffs, and assessing their broader implications on overall market dynamics.
During the quarter under review, the petrochemicals group recorded a RM18mil net loss, on the back of a revenue of RM7.66bil, which compares to a net profit of RM668mil and revenue of RM7.5bil in the year-ago quarter.
The group said in a statement the O&D business had been affected by a utilities supply disruption in Kertih as well as reduced production in Pengerang Petrochemicals Company Sdn Bhd (PPC) due to feedstock unavailability.
The segment subsequently reported a loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of RM43mil, primarily owing to lower contributions from PPC – mainly due to a lower plant utilisation rate and unrealised foreign exchange loss on revaluation of payables.
Meanwhile, the group's fertilisers and methanol (F&M) segment saw an improvement in sales and earnings due to stronger product prices, which offset a slight decline in sales volume. 'Tight global supply and robust seasonal demand led to an increase in prices of approximately 13% and 5% for urea and methanol, respectively.'
The segment's quarterly revenue rose slightly to RM2.5bil while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) gained 22% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to RM892mil, driven by improved product spreads.
In the specialities segment, revenue rose 19% (q-o-q) to RM1.6bil on higher sales volumes. Ebitda rose to RM52mil on stronger contribution margins and sales volume.

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