Pigment Manufacturers of Australia Limited (PMA Ltd) was formed as a joint venture between Imperial Chemical Industries of Australia and New Zealand Limited (ICIANZ) and BASF Australia Limited in 1970. Two members of the four member board came from ICIANZ, with the other two representing BASF.

On 1 January 1970 the company commenced production at the Pigments Plant at Laverton, taking over from ICIANZ who had established the plant in 1960 to produce Azo and phthalocyanine organic pigments for the Australian market. The first General Manager at PMA Ltd, Hugh A. Grayson, had been Works Manager under ICIANZ and many of the staff at the plant had also worked for ICIANZ at the site for many years. The stated aim of PMA Ltd was to "support the role of ICI and BASF in Australia".

Frequent technical contact was maintained with both parent companies throughout, and their marketing channels were used in product distribution. In addition, PMA Ltd undertook product rationalisation and some expansion of the Laverton plant in the 1970s and 1980s.

However, by the late 1980s an economic downturn, high exchange rates, reductions in tariff protection and the need for significant capital investment to update the plant and meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations and standards all contributed toward mounting cost pressures. In December 1990 PMA Ltd ceased production. A skeleton staff remained at the plant as a closure team to oversea the shutdown, while ICI Engineering managed the demolition of the plant, disposal of material and equipment, and land remediation.

Organisational charts showing the company structure, departments and senior staff can be found in "A2 - Organisation Charts and Changes" (PMA0852) and "A8 - Position Descriptions" (PMA0693) in Series 4.

For a history of the plant during the 1960s under ICIANZ, see the provenance entry "Pigments Plant at Laverton - Imperial Chemical Industries of Australia and New Zealand Limited".

NOTE: The provenance of Pigment Manufacturers of Australia Limited has been assigned to those items in this collection where it was not possible to determine a finer provenance attribution.