CHEManager International’s Post

LyondellBasell (LYB) announced it entered into an agreement to acquire a 35% interest in Saudi Arabia–based National Petrochemical Industrial Company (NATPET) from Alujain Corporation (Alujain) for approximately $500 million. Enabled by its Spheripol polypropylene (PP) technology, the joint venture positions LYB to grow and upgrade its core PP business through access to advantaged feedstocks, plus additional product marketing capacity, in a strategic region. Closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary closing conditions. Alujain and LYB are also assessing together potential construction of a new propylene via propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and PP facility at the NATPET site, subject to a final investment decision. The project is being studied with a shared goal to implement solutions that align with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s 2060 carbon reduction strategy.

Welcoming the return of Diemme Filtration - Filtration & Thickening Systems to our Gold Sponsor line-up! The Diemme® Filtration brand was born in the early ’70s when the filter press left the traditional application field of the food industry to establish itself in other industrial sectors as a process technology for solid-liquid separation. In those years, the filter press became the machinery of choice for the treatment of industrial and municipal sewage sludge, a role that it still maintains today in all those applications, such as the mining and chemical industries, the power plants, and the oil and gas sector, where high dewatering performance, low operational expense, and reliability are key drivers in the selection of technology. Diemme Filtration has the widest range of filters available on the global market in terms of size, design, and technical characteristics. The equipment is tailor-made and designed according to the needs of the specific application. Diemme Filtration also began to design and supply its own range of high-rate thickeners, thus broadening the company’s scope of supply and giving more support to the customer. Find out more about Diemme Filtration: https://lnkd.in/gVaSfHSH Join their session and visit their booth at Indonesia Miner 2024 on June 4 - 6! Register now at https://lnkd.in/gRZ2hKS7 For more info: contact us at info@indonesiaminer.com / (+62) 8111798599 Visit Our Website: www.indonesiaminer.com #IndonesiaMiner2024 #IndonesiaMiner #IM2024 #DiemmeFiltration #Mining #Gold #Copper #CriticalMinerals #Nickel #EVBattery #Coal #EnergyTransition #Sustainability #MiningConference #MiningExhibition #MiningTechnology

An important step towards the sustainability of fertilizer production!

"Shell said on Wednesday (8 May 2024) it has agreed to sell its refinery and petrochemical assets in Singapore, Asia's main oil hub, to a joint venture between Indonesian chemicals firm Chandra Asri and Swiss miner and commodities trader Glencore. ... The sale is part of Shell CEO Wael Sawan's plan to reduce the company's carbon footprint and focus its operations on the most profitable businesses. The transaction will transfer all of Shell’s interest in Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Singapore to the joint venture company CAPGC, Shell said in a statement. The companies did not provide a value for the deal. Subject to regulatory approval, the transaction is expected to complete by the end of 2024, Shell added. ... CAPGC is majority-owned and operated by Chandra Asri Group and minority-owned by Glencore through their respective subsidiary companies, the Indonesian company said in a statement. Shell's assets include a refinery capable of processing 237,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil and a 1-million-metric-ton-per-year (tpy) ethylene plant located on Bukom island, just south of Singapore, as well as a plant that produces mono-ethylene glycol on Jurong island in the Southeast Asian city-state's west. ... Acquiring Shell's plants in Singapore would provide Chandra Asri with naphtha feedstock for its cracker and allow the company to integrate its petrochemical production with refining which could improve its efficiency and reduce costs. 'Chandra Asri has been a leading player in the olefins and downstream space in Indonesia for decades, and has been looking to expand its current portfolio within and outside Indonesia for many years ... this foothold in the petrochemical hub of Southeast Asia will give it leverage in increasing its ASEAN footprint and lift itself to be a truly regional player,' said Wood Mackenzie's global head of polyesters, Salmon Lee. Chandra Asri operates Indonesia's sole naphtha cracker, which can produce 900,000 tons of ethylene and 490,000 tons of propylene annually, basic raw materials that are further processed at the complex into other petrochemicals. For Glencore, Shell's assets would give the global trader a physical foothold for its trading in Asia. Glencore's only refining asset is a 100,000 bpd facility in Cape Town that is South Africa's third-largest refinery. It also owns a lubricants plant in Durban. A partnership with Glencore also means Chandra Asri can harness the trading giant's strengths in not only the trading sphere but also on the logistical front, Woodmac's Lee added." Reporting by Trixie Sher Li Yap, Yantoultra Ngui, Chen Aizhu, Florence Tan, Emily Chow and Tony Munroe and Bernadette Christina; editing by Jason Neely and Kim Coghill, Shell to sell Singapore refinery, petchem assets to Chandra Asri and Glencore, 𝘙𝘦𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 8 May 2024, https://lnkd.in/gQ-Yjzjb

Ma’aden partners with #Metso and #Thyssenkrupp_Uhde to develop unique #PhosphoGypsum_recycling and #CO2_capturing complex in Saudi Arabia Ma’aden announced that it will enter into a frame agreement with Metso and thyssenkrupp Uhde for the development and licensing of Ma’aden’s Integrated process concept, aiming for greenfield facilities at Ras Al Khair in Saudi Arabia. The complex will include technology for CO2 capturing with lime produced from the calcination of phosphogypsum using sulfur, leading to a reduction in CO2 emissions across Ma’aden’s phosphate business, making it more sustainable in the long-term. The complex will enable the deployment of an innovative patented concept, which has been officially recognized by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patent will allow Ma’aden to use new technology to reduce carbon emissions and recycle phosphogypsum into a useful resource..... https://bit.ly/3vspf6p Ma'aden #SaudiArabia #Mining #Environment #CarbonEmissions

Shell to sell Singapore refinery, petchem assets to Chandra Asri and Glencore Summary: Shell has announced the sale of its refinery and petrochemical assets in Singapore to a joint venture between Indonesian chemicals firm Chandra Asri and Swiss commodities trader Glencore. The deal, which is part of Shell's strategic global review to transition into a lower-carbon operator, involves the transfer of Shell’s interests in Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Singapore to the newly formed joint venture company, CAPGC. The transaction, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to complete by the end of 2024.The sale includes a refinery on Bukom Island with a capacity of 237,000 barrels per day and an ethylene plant producing 1 million metric tons per year, along with a mono-ethylene glycol plant on Jurong Island. This move provides Chandra Asri with essential naphtha feedstock for its cracker, enhancing its efficiency by integrating petrochemical production with refining. For Glencore, acquiring these assets offers a physical trading base in Asia, complementing its existing global operations.This strategic divestment aligns with Shell's broader aim to reduce its carbon footprint and focus on more profitable and sustainable operations. The acquisition is seen as a significant step for Chandra Asri and Glencore to expand their footprint in the Southeast Asian petrochemical market, amidst growing competition and regulatory challenges such as Singapore's rising carbon tax.#ShellDivestment#SingaporeRefinerySale#CleanEnergyTransition#ChandraAsri#Glencore#EnergySectorDeals

Global petrochemical oversupply crisis: Petrochemical producers in Europe and Asia are in survival mode as years of capacity build-up in top market China and high energy costs in Europe have depressed margins for three consecutive years, forcing firms to consolidate. ExxonMobil Chemical France would shut down the steam cracker and close chemical production at Gravenchon this year, adding that the site has lost more than €500 MM since 2018 and remains uncompetitive. The Taiwanese petrochemical giant Formosa Petrochemical has been operating only one of its three naphtha crackers for a year. The company has kept the other two crackers offline due to poor demand and unhealthy margins,. The company is not looking to make any new investments in the near term due to challenging market conditions, UK-based INEOS acquired TotalEnergies' 50% share of the Naphtachimie, Appryl, Gexaro businesses in April, making INEOS the sole owner of the units at Lavera in southern France. The deal includes a 720,000-metric tpy steam cracker, 270,000 tpy of aromatics and 300,000 tpy of polypropylene production capacity. Lyondellbasell, sold its Bayport, Texas ethylene oxide unit and associated business to chemical maker INEOS Oxide for $700 MM in May. Japanese firm Mitsui Chemicals announced in April its decision to close the phenol plant at its Ichihara Works by fiscal year 2026, it said in a statement. In October 2024, it will shut its polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant at its Iwakuni-Ohtake Works. In Chiba, the company has reached an agreement with Idemitsu Kosan to consider aggregating ethylene equipment, it said in annual results released in May. It plans to downsize Omuta Work's toluene diisocyanate (TDI) plant by fiscal year 2025 and is considering shutting Anegasaki plant by 2027. Pengerang Petrochemical Co., the 50-50 joint venture between Petronas and Saudi Aramco, has kept its 1.2-MMtpy naphtha cracker shut since it was closed for maintenance earlier this year. Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), 70% owned by oil giant Aramco, announced in April plans to permanently shut the No. 3 naphtha-fed cracker at its plant in Geleen, the Netherlands after routine maintenance at the site. Shell, the energy major in May sold its refinery and petrochemical assets in Singapore, Asia's main oil hub, to a joint venture between Indonesian chemicals firm Chandra Asri and Swiss miner and commodities trader Glencore. The sale is part of Shell CEO Wael Sawan's plan to reduce the company's carbon footprint and focus its operations on the most profitable businesses. Sumitomo Chemical: Saudi Aramco has agreed to buy from Japan's Sumitomo Chemical a 22.5% stake in their petrochemical joint venture Petro Rabigh for $702 MM, The deal shrinks Sumitomo Chemical's stake in the joint venture to 15% while increasing Aramco's share to 60%.

$5bn Long Son Petrochemical Complex to Begin Commercial Operations in Southern Vietnam in October Long Son Petrochemicals Company Limited (LSP), the biggest petrochemical complex in Vietnam, will begin commercial operations from October this year. Thailand’s Siam Cement Group (SCG) Chemicals, the parent company of LSP, on 1st August released its business performance in the first half of this year. The firm revealed that LSP was projected to generate revenue of VND15 trillion (US$592.8 million) this year and VND38 trillion ($1.5 billion) by 2025. The petrochemical complex was initially scheduled for commercial operations in the second quarter of this year. However, it grappled with a technical problem during its trial operation early this year, resulting in its suspension from March to June this year to remedy the problem and improve its operation capacity. The complex, when put into commerical operation, will supply plastic pellets to the domestic and global markets. The global economic downturn and oversupply will be great challenges for the project, according to SCG. LSP, covering 464 hectares of land in Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, a neighbor of Ho Chi Minh City, is the first integrated petrochemical project in Vietnam. In vietnam, SCG’s revenue totaled nearly VND16.4 trillion ($656 million) in the first six months of this year, rising 12 percent over the year-ago period. Thammasak Sethaudom, president and CEO of SCG, said SCG’s performance in the second quarter of this year was better than that in the previous quarter. The group yielded VND88.38 trillion ($3.5 billion) in total revenue and VND2.6 trillion ($102 million) in profit of last quarter, up three and 53 percent, respectively, over the previous quarter. Its revenue hit VND174 trillion ($7 billion) in the first half of 2024. Tuổi Trẻ Online, 3rd Aug 2024 #polyethylene #polypropylene #steamcracking #vietnam Siam Cement Group (SCG) Long Son Petrochemicals (LSP) Technip Energies Mitsui Chemicals Group Univation Technologies, LLC The US$5 billion Long Son Petrochemicals Company Limited (LSP), the largest petrochemical complex in Vietnam, will begin its commercial operations from October 2024. Photo: Ngoc Hien / Tuoi Tre

Global PE firm RCF backs EVM's Lithium Chemicals Plant in Saudi Arabia! "#EVMetalsGroup (#EVM), a global #battery #chemicals and technology #company with offices in #Australia, #SaudiArabia and the #UK, announced on Monday that has signed a #partnership agreement with global private equity firm, #ResourceCapitalFunds (#RCF), to further advance its #LithiumChemicalsPlant (#LCP) Project in Saudi Arabia. Under the agreement, #RCF will work with #EVM and its wholly owned subsidiary, #EVMetalsArabia Company for Industry (#EVMArabia) to secure #investment for EVM Arabia’s estimated $906 million Lithium Chemicals Plant (#LCP) #Project in #Yanbu Industrial City in Saudi Arabia, according to EVM’s press statement. The EVM statement said the LCP Project is at an #advanced #stage, ready to commence #construction for the first two processing #trains with a #production #capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum of high purity #Lithium #Hydroxide #Monohydrate for customers across #Europe and the #MiddleEast. EVM said the #Lithium #Chemicals #Plant (LCP) project is being developed as a midstream #hub for #diversification and #geopolitical alignment of #supplychains for #electricvehicle and #batterycell #manufacturers. #autonews #automotivenews #news #auto #mobility #electricvehicles #electriccars #sustainability #sustainable #evmanufacturing #evmarket