MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell CEO Bob Patel will retire at the end of 2021, the major US producer announced.
Bhavesh V. (Bob) Patel, CEO of Houston-based chemical supplier LyondellBasell Industries, will retire on Dec. 31. Patel, 53, will continue to lead the firm until that time and “will ensure a smooth and orderly transition for his successor,” company officials said in an Aug. 25 news release.
Patel will also resign from the company’s board of directors on Dec. 31. The news release also said the board has established a sub-committee that will oversee the search for a new CEO “and will consider both internal and external candidates."
"Under Bob’s leadership, LyondellBasell has successfully expanded our global portfolio, increased our earnings power, delivered strong cash flows and consistently raised our quarterly dividend,” said Jacques Aigrain, board chair. “We are extremely proud of his commitment to driving sustainability at LyondellBasell, where we have set an ambitious goal to produce and market two million metric tons of recycled and renewable-based polymers by 2030. Bob’s leadership in this area is exemplified by the company’s actions as a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, an organization which helps address plastic waste in the environment."
Patel joined LyondellBasell in March 2010 and was appointed CEO in January 2015. Since that time, the news release said, the firm has grown through a series of strategic global investments, including the acquisition of A. Schulman, the construction of manufacturing plants in the U.S. Gulf Coast, and the establishment of new or expanded joint ventures in the U.S., China, Korea and Thailand.
"We have built a strong operational foundation, achieved significant growth, and continue to have a favorable outlook,” Patel said. “After almost 12 years at the company, the time has come for me to move to the next chapter of my career, and my decision is made easier given the strength of the company and the highly experienced, capable leadership team that is in place."
As MRC reported earlier, LyondellBasell said in early August it was restarting the polymers and olefins units at its La Porte, Texas, facility following an acetic acid leak on 27 July, 2021, that killed two people. Both units are located in other parts of the La Porte site.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC