From its establishment in 1961 to date, Thaioil Group upholds its goal of being the most efficient, technologically advanced, and environmentally friendly petroleum oil refiner in Asia Pacific. Thaioil Group focuses on group integration management to involve all working groups in devising strategic plans for production and sales.      

Thai Paraxylene Company Limited or TPX was established as a manufacturing company for petrochemical products such as paraxylene and benzene. The company continually strives to increase production capabilities in order to expand into new businesses and product lines that will cater to everyday needs of the consumers.   

Mitsui & Co. Limited is one of the largest trading companies in the world with a history, expanding for more than 130 years. From its establishment to date, the company has come up with numerous innovations in response to global growth and has since expanded into industrial chemical and energy sectors with globally expansive trade networks. Furthermore, the company has extensive experience and specialization in LAB market. Mitsui & Co. Limited is the largest supplier and importer of LAB in Thailand and Southeast Asia. 

Thaioil Group (via TPX) and Mitsui Co. Limited, the largest LAB trader in Southeast Asia, has announced a joint venture partnership to pioneer the first comprehensive LAB manufacturing plant in Thailand and Southeast Asia under the name “LABIX Company Limited”.  

With an investment of over 12 billion baht, LABIX aims to manufacture LAB (Linear Alkyl Benzene), a key compound for detergent and cleaning products, through the most advanced and environmentally friendly technology in the world. It is expected that the presence of LABIX in Thailand can reduced over 3.5 – 4 billion baht of trade deficits and expenses from the importation of LAB annually. This will not only generate over 6 billion baht of revenue per year but also increase the country’s competitiveness in preparation for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). 

LABIX Company Limited is the first manufacturer of LAB in Thailand and is one of the most efficient manufacturers in Asia Pacific. It is located in the center of Thailand, in Sri Racha district of Chonburi province, which is logistically well connected to sea and land transportation. As such, the company has an advantage of delivering its product to its customer in various regions of Thailand quickly and efficiently. The ever increasing need for detergent and cleaning products in everyday life, for which LAB is the key compound, will propel LABIX to become the leading LAB manufacturer in Southeast Asia. Currently, Thailand still imports all LAB compounds from abroad, resulting in a trade deficit. Therefore, the LAB project will not only reduce the country’s loss to imports, but also generate export values of at least 2 billion baht per year as well as create many job opportunities. 

Since 2008, Thaioil Group has conducted numerous research projects for ways to add value to Benzene. It discovered that the Benzene derivative with the highest business potential and most suitable to Thaioil’s production model is LAB (Linear Alkyl Benzene), which is a key compound in the production of detergent and cleaning products. LAB can be produced through the alkylation of Benzene and Normal Paraffin, which is extracted from Kerosene. Thaioil’s LAB production process has been designed to integrate with core manufacturing processes in order to achieve highest efficiency while maintaining cost advantage over other LAB producers. Furthermore, Thaioil Group has utilized manufacturing technologies from UOP, which is regarded as the most advanced and environmentally friendly in the world, in order to create a LAB production unit with the highest efficiency while keeping cost at the lowest level to increase competitiveness in the market. Manufacturing technologies from UOP are highly regarded by the LAB production industry for its safety and is widely used throughout the world.

LAB market has a direct relationship to the demand of detergents and cleaning products. In 2012, the global demand for LAB was at 3.2 million ton per annum with an expected growth of 2-3% per year (70,000-100,000 ton increase).

Asia is one of the region with the highest economic growth due to its large population and the effort to increase the quality of life of its people. In 2012, the demand for LAB in Southeast Asia was at 400,000 per annum with an expected growth rate of 3-4% annually. The biggest consumer of LAB in the region is Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. Currently, Indonesia holds the only LAB manufacturing plant in Southeast Asia, which does not come close to meeting the demand of LAB in the region. This resulted in the importation of over 250,000 ton of LAB annually to Southeast Asia.

Thailand is currently the center of manufacturing for consumer goods, which includes detergents and cleaning products. However, Thailand has been importing all of its LAB supply from abroad. If Thailand is able to produce LAB, the import demand will decrease. Therefore, Thaioil  Group (via Thai Paraxylene Company Limited) has joined hand with Mitsui &Co Limited to become the most comprehensive LAB manufacturer with the highest production efficiency in the region through the connection of production processes with Thaioil’s core manufacturing structure.  Mitsui & Co Limited is one of the world's renown Japanese company with a long history in trading and great experience and expertise in LAB marketing. Currently, the company is the biggest LAB supplier in Thailand and Southeast Asia with multinational manufacturers of consumer product as its main client.