INEOS Enterprises to acquire ASHTA Chemicals Inc. from Bigshire Mexico

INEOS Enterprises has announced an agreement to acquire ASHTA Chemicals Inc, from Bigshire Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V. The deal, which consists of a 100ktpa Potassium Hydroxide (KOH)/65 ktpa Chlorine plant, is targeted to close before the end of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals, said the company.

ASHTA Chemicals manufacture and market chlorine and a range of potassium-based chemicals to a wide variety of end use markets including liquid fertilizers, runway de-icers, food ingredients, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural applications. The business employs around 110 people at its site in Ashtabula, Ohio, close to the INEOS Pigments operations, from where it operates a recently commissioned membrane cell technology chlor-alkali unit.

Commenting on the agreement, Ashley Reed, CEO INEOS Enterprises said “Once completed we believe the deal presents an excellent strategic fit for the long-term local supply and use of chlorine between ASHTA and INEOS Pigments. In addition, ASHTA Chemicals will bring a well-established and respected North American potassium hydroxide business into the INEOS Enterprises portfolio."

Ruy Zavala, CFO of Bigshire Mexico said “ASHTA has undergone significant investments in the past few years under Bigshire’s ownership, most notably the construction and commissioning of a modern membrane cell chlor-alkali plant which utilizes INEOS’ BichlorTM technology. We believe the next phase of ASHTA’s development can be well progressed under INEOS ownership and the complementary strategic fit that will be created will further improve the long-term sustainability of the company and its employees."

We remind, INEOS O&P Europe has announced today a EUR30 MM investment in the conversion of its plant in Lillo, at the Port of Antwerp, to enable its existing capacity to produce either monomodal or bi-modal grades of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). This will allow INEOS to meet the strong demand for durable high-end applications such as cable ducts and pipes used to transport green energy sources such as renewable power and hydrogen, whilst enabling the business to follow market trends as society reduces single use packaging.

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Japan's chemical exports rose by 4.8% year on year to Yen (Y) 957.3bn in September, supporting the overall rise in shipments abroad, official data showed.

Exports of organic chemicals fell by 1.7% year on year to Y170.9bn in September while shipments of plastic materials were up by 0.3% at Y251.7bn. On a volume basis, exports of plastic materials fell by 18% year on year to 412,012 tonnes in September.

The country's total exports rose by 28.9% year on year to Y8,819bn in September, while imports were up by 45.9% at Y10,912bn.This resulted in a trade deficit of Y2,094bn in September.

Overall shipments to China, Japan's largest export destination, rose by 17.1% year on year in September. Exports to the US rose by 45.2% year on year while those to western Europe were up by 32.1%.

We remind, Neste, Idemitsu Kosan, CHIMEI and Mitsubishi Corporation have agreed to build a renewable plastics supply chain utilizing bio-based hydrocarbons (Neste RE) for the production of styrene monomer (i.e. bio-SM), and its mass balanced renewable plastics derivatives including acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (i.e. bio-ABS). The bio-SM production in Japan and the renewable plastics production in Taiwan will mark the first of such production in each country, and they are planned to take place in the first half of 2023.

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Borealis is designing a first-of-its-kind commercial-scale advanced mechanical recycling plant to be located in Schwechat, Austria, said the company.

The plant will be based on Borealis’ own Borcycle™ M technology, which transforms polyolefin-based post-consumer waste into high-performance polymers suitable for demanding applications. This represents another tangible step forward on Borealis’ path to net zero.

The new plant will have capacity to produce over 60 kilotonnes of advanced mechanical recycled polyolefin solutions and compounds per year. For customers and end-consumers, this will mean an increase in the availability of high-quality recycled plastic products.

The decision was based on positive feedback from the market on recycled polyolefins delivered by a demonstration plant based on the same technology. This plant was located in Lahnstein, Germany, and operated by Borealis, Tomra and Zimmerman.

Mechanical recycling plays a key role in Borealis’ approach to achieving circularity, as shown in the integrated cascade model. The new plant will expand Borealis’ capabilities in this area, following on from the acquisitions of plastic recyclers mtm plastics in 2016, and Ecoplast Kunstoffrecycling in 2018.

We remind, following a standstill for 80% of the construction works in the Kallo PDH project, Borealis carried out a re-tendering process for the Mechanical and Piping construction works. After careful consideration, Borealis has now granted a majority of these works to the contractor Ponticelli. Works on the construction site will now further gradually increase as of 3 October 2022. The prolonged standstill and gradual re-start of the project has consequences for the timeline of the project. Borealis expects start-up of the new PDH plant during the second half of 2024.

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Cyclyx International, ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell announced they have signed an agreement to advance development of a first-of-its-kind plastic waste sorting and processing facility in the Houston area, said the company.

The new facility addresses a critical missing link in the plastic waste supply chain by connecting community recycling programs to new and more advanced recycling technologies that have the potential to take a much wider variety of plastic materials.

The Cyclyx Circularity Center will be unique among plastic recovery facilities, producing feedstock for both mechanical and advanced recycling. The center will leverage new technologies to analyze plastics based on their composition and sort them according to customer specifications for their highest and best reuse.

The circularity center will be located in the Greater Houston area, with commercial start-up expected in 2024. The facility will be designed to produce 150,000 metric tons or 330 million pounds of plastic feedstock per year, supplying ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell advanced recycling projects as well as mechanical recycling markets. Total investment for the first circularity center is estimated to be USD100 million, contingent upon a final investment decision in early 2023.

Cyclyx, ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell are members of the Houston Recycling Collaboration whose mission is to help the City of Houston significantly increase plastic recycling rates, leveraging new technologies and infrastructure, such as this Cyclyx facility, to recycle nearly all plastics.

As of September 2022, ExxonMobil has processed more than 6,700 metric tons (nearly 15 million pounds) of plastic waste at its Baytown facility, recycling materials that may have otherwise gone to landfill or incineration. When the facility’s expansion is complete later this year, it will be among North America’s largest advanced recycling facilities, with an annual capacity to recycle 30,000 metric tons of plastic waste. Leveraging ExxonMobil’s existing manufacturing assets, plans are underway to build up to 500,000 metric tons (1 billion pounds) of annual advanced recycling capacity by year-end 2026 across multiple sites globally.

LyondellBasell has a goal to produce and market 2 million metric tons of recycled and renewable-based polymers annually by 2030. To deliver on this ambition, the company recently announced a new organizational structure including a Circular and Low-Carbon Solutions business segment and is strategically investing along the value chain.

Cyclyx has a goal of processing more than 650,000 metric tons of waste plastic per year by 2026. Consistent with this goal, Cyclyx is focused on its mission to help increase the plastics recycling rate from 10 to 90% by getting the right feed to the right technology, creating a new supply chain for waste plastic, and diverting post-use plastic from landfill.

We remind, LyondellBasell and 23 Oaks Investments, Leiferde/Lower Saxony, Germany, signed an agreement to create Source One Plastics, a joint venture that will build an energy efficient, advanced plastic waste sorting and recycling facility in Germany. Using renewable energy from wind and biomass, the new unit is designed to process the amount of plastic packaging waste generated by approximately 1.3 million German citizens per year. This waste is not recycled today and is mostly incinerated.

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Sahara International Petrochemical Co.’s (Sipchem) Q3 2022 net profit of SAR 774.4 million beat SNB Capital’s forecasts of SAR 656 million, but missed average analyst expectations of SAR 852 million, SNB Capital said in a recent note, said Argaam.

The company’s debts decreased by SAR 1.1 billion since the end of 2021 to reach SAR 4.3 billion currently. Its debt ratio improved to 24%.

SNB Capital added that its outlook for Sipchem is positive in the short-to-medium term, due to the company’s unique portfolio.

The research firm recommended an “Overweight” rating on the stock with a target price (TP) of SAR 63.1.

We remind, Sahara International Petrochemical Co's (Sipchem) net profit rose by 52.2% year on year in the second quarter on the back of higher selling prices for most of the company’s products. The increase in product prices also contributed to the 13.7% year-on-year increase in gross profit in the second quarter, the company said in a filing to the Saudi bourse, Tadawul. The company's second-quarter net profit growth was also supported by the decrease in finance costs due to reduction of loans when compared with the same period of last year.
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