our people will be able to deliver these
strategies and ensure PCG’s sustainability in
the years to come.”
Sazali says there are multiple opportunities
for the Group to diversify into the specialty
chemicals market. “When you look at our
portfolio now, it only represents around
0.2 per cent of our revenue, it’s very low.
So, moving forward, we are setting a target
of 15 per cent revenue in specialty.”
The company will enter this new
territory with a methodical approach. “We
will break down the planning into the short,
medium and long term, and we will go into
more granular detail about how we want to
achieve this.” He also notes that the company
is starting to get bigger clients that are
commissioning specialty chemicals, which are
important components in consumer products.
“Our game plan is to aggressively move
into this space,” Sazali says of specialty
chemicals. “To help gain traction in this
potentially lucrative sector, we are also
participating in PETRONAS’s Pengerang
Integrated Complex in the Malaysian
southern state of Johor. The state-of-the-art
petrochemical facility costing US$2.7 billion
encompasses an isononanol plant that would
cater to the global demands for the use in
construction and automotive industries.”
As PCG expands into specialty chemicals
and derivatives, a major part of its ongoing
success will be having the expertise to
maximise the potential of this expanded
product range. To help achieve this, it has
already established country representative
offices in South East Asia, China and India.
It is anticipated that these country
representative offices will add to PCG’s
foothold in these territories.
There are also significant efforts being
made to ensure that the commercialisation
of new product lines is fully optimised.
“We have another dedicated team, free
from day-to-day projects, focusing on the
future and the market for the new products.
Despite it being challenging, I’m comfortable
with how we are moving forward. I can
see the upside, and the strategy to make
sure all these new products succeed is
extremely strong.”
Sazali moved into the CEO role in 2014, and under
his guidance PCG has continued to refine its processes
for optimal efficiency, drawing on improved asset
management to achieve a 96 per cent plant utilisation rate
in 2016. This productivity has resulted in outstanding
financial performance. Shortly before Sazali spoke with
The CEO Magazine, the company reported that its net
profits had doubled from the same quarter a year earlier,
fuelled by the winning combination of higher volume and
reduced operating costs.
“We have been focusing on three main areas in PCG’s
portfolio: commercial excellence, operational excellence,
and our innovation and growth portfolio,” Sazali explains.
“We’ve spent a lot on commercial excellence to make sure
our sales force is very capable. Also, we really have sought to
improve our efficiency and found measures that will help
both our clients and sales force in delivering our products.
We have received great feedback over the past two years that
our commercial excellence initiatives have improved our
service despite the tough conditions, with crude oil hitting
below US$50 a barrel.”
Sazali says the company has a number of considerable
competitive advantages, including its strategic location
in a fast-growing region of South East Asia. It has also
developed fully integrated production facilities and
well-developed ancillary services that lead to synergies
across its production line. The Group is carefully plotting
the next phase of its history and believes it is well placed
to tap into developing megatrends. However, Sazali says,
there is also a strong element of building on what is
already working. “We believe that we are one of the
biggest producers in terms of chemical volume; therefore,
our focus is on continuing operational excellence as well
as venturing into the specialty chemicals industry.”“ Our key business
message moving
forward is about
‘stepping out’.
We plan to venture
into new segments
to futureproof
our business.”
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