MALAYSIA – Swiss producer of industrial minerals, Omya has strengthened its presence in the Asia Pacific region with the acquisition of distributor of ingredients and specialty chemicals, Prima Inter-Chem.
Founded in 1984, Malaysia-based Prima Inter-Chem is a major distributor of chemicals, excipients, ingredients and additives for various industries.
The company has facilities in Shah Alam, Penang and Johor in Malaysia, and Jakarta in Indonesia.
Khoo Kah Pheng and Lim Kooi Fui, founders and shareholders of Prima Inter-Chem, said: “We are very pleased to have found a great harbour for the team and business we have built over the last 38 years.
We believe that Omya is the best partner to take Prima to the next level of growth and success in Asia.”
Omya plans to leverage Prima’s footprint to boost its own distribution capability for the food, pharmaceutical, animal feed and industrial sectors within Malaysia and Indonesia.
In addition, the Oftringen, Switzerland-based company said the acquisition will give it a platform for growth in the wider Asia-Pacific region, and the deal continues its history of acquiring complementary businesses.
A leading producer of industrial minerals
Omya is a global producer of industrial minerals—mainly derived from calcium carbonate, dolomite and perlite—and a worldwide distributor of specialty chemicals.
Founded in 1884 in Switzerland, Omya has a global presence extending to more than 160 locations in over 50 countries with 9,000 employees.
Its expansion in Asia Pacific comes at a time when the future of calcium carbonate market looks good with opportunities in the packaging, food manufacturing and other industrial end use industries.
The market is expected to reach an estimated US$27 billion by 2027 with a CAGR of 4.1% from 2021 to 2027, according to a recent report published by Reportlinker.
According to the report, the major growth drivers for this market include increasing demand for plastics in packaging industries and increasing demand in food, pharmaceutical, and agriculture industries.
Emerging trends, which have a direct impact on the dynamics of the industry, include growing consumption of nano-precipitated calcium carbonate and the emergence of green products for low carbon footprint.
Early last year, Omya launched OmyaPET, a new product family of functionalized calcium carbonates for PET applications.
The company said the new OmyaPET is a cost-effective opacifier for the production of white opaque PET bottles or white opaque BOPET film and ensures a lower environmental footprint in, for example, UHT milk bottles.
The company added OmyaPET improves the production costs for bottles without compromising on mechanical and optical properties.
The product has already been rolled out in Europe and will later be expanded to other regions.
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