Symex Holdings Limited Closes Port Melbourne Oleochemical Facility

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Symex Holdings Limited (ASX:SYM) (Shepparton, Australia), currently known as Pental Limited, has closed its facility in Port Melbourne, Victoria, discontinuing its specialty chemical business segment that included oleine, stearine, glycerine, and distilled fatty acids.

The site, a huge parcel of land for the production of oleine and stearine, was sold for AU$25 million to property investment group Harry Stamoulis, which plans to convert it from an industrial zone to a residential zone.

The facility produces oleochemical products, such as 15,000 tonnes per annum of oleine from tallow, representing 9% of world production, and 22,000 tonnes per annum of stearine. The facility exports 75% of its products to more than 35 countries.

According to Albert Zago, the general manager for finance and chief finance officer of Symex Holdings, the Port Melbourne facility ceased its production before Christmas 2012, and plant personnel are performing a final decommissioning. Part of the facility is the bleach plant, which they intend to transfer to the Shepparton site, where a new office and manufacturing facility is located.

Symex Holding operates two business segments: specialty chemicals and consumer products. As part of its restructuring, the company is focusing on the Pental Consumer products business and is proposing to change the company name to Pental Limited.

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