Kumho Petrochemical partners with Technip to advance eco-rubber

Synthetic rubber and chemicals manufacturer Kumho Petrochemical has advanced its plans to produce rubber using recycled styrene monomers (RSM) recovered from plastics waste, said European-rubber-journal .

The South Korean company has now signed a memorandum of understanding with Technip Energies to license a pyrolysis process enabled by US recycling technology company Agilyx.

Technip Energies is the exclusive licensor for the Agilyx technology for the production of the recycled monomer via the pyrolysis of waste polystyrene.

In a 23 Nov announcement, Agilyx said Kumho Petrochemical will use the RSM in the production of solution styrene-butadiene rubber (SSBR), a key component for the manufacture of tires.

The MoU follows an earlier agreement between Agilyx and Kumho Petrochemical in August last year to study the development and construction of a chemical recycling project in South Korea.

According to Agilyx, Kumho Petrochemical’s stated goal is to commercialise RSM-content products at the beginning in 2026.

Technip Energies' remit is to provide support in all project areas, including around the transfer of a technology license to Kumho Petrochemical.

We remind, Kumho Petrochemical has announced a major investment initiative which will see the South Korean group pumping KRW6,000 billion (EUR5.5 billion) into existing and new businesses over the next five years. As part of the initiative, Kumho will invest KRW3,300 billion in its ‘core business areas’, which includes nitrile butadiene latex (NB latex) production and styrene solution butadiene rubber (SSBR) manufacturing.

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The South African chemicals company hopes to refinance its debt and fund wider commercial activities by raising USD 750 million from the bonds market, a deal on which it was supported by a US law firm.
South African chemicals company Sasol has launched a USD 750 million bond offering, said Iclg.

The Johannesburg-headquartered company said the bonds, due to mature in 2027, would be used for “general corporate purposes including, but not limited to, the refinancing of debt”. The bonds were issued on 8 November by Sasol’s subsidiary Sasol Financing USA, and are expected to be made available for trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange 30 days after the closing date. They will be convertible into shares in Sasol or cash.

Co-ordinator for the offering was BofA Securities, while the book-runners were Citigroup, JP Morgan and BofA Securities. Co-lead managers were Mizuho, MUFG and SMBC Nikko.

Sasol was represented on the offering by a mostly London-based team from New York-headquartered law firm Shearman & Sterling, led by partners Trevor Ingram and James Duncan, with support from Washington, DC, tax partner Kristen Garry and an associate in New York.

As per MRC, Sasol Chemicals will lease land adjacent to its plant to Hamburger Energiewerke, Hamburg’s municipal utility, which plans to build the facility by the end of 2024. When fully operational in 2025, the plant will supply at least 70,000 megawatt hours of steam to Sasol each year, enabling the company to reduce its CO2 emissions from the plant by approximately 13,000 metric tons annually. In addition to green steam, the plant will produce more than 90,000 megawatt hours of sustainable electricity annually.

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Saudi Aramco Base Oil Co., a unit of the state-owned oil producer, has received regulatory approval for an initial public offering in Riyadh, as the world’s biggest crude producer looks to list some of its subsidiaries, said Bloomberg.

The IPO will consist of the sale of 50 million shares -- a 29.7% stake -- in the company, Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority said Thursday. The unit, also known as Luberef, makes base oils used in lubricants for motor vehicles, ships and industrial machinery.

Saudi Aramco this month reported its second-highest earnings as a listed company, although its downstream unit, responsible for refining, chemicals and fuel distribution, made a pretax loss of USD1.1 billion, versus almost USD4 billion in profits a year earlier.

Jadwa, which is expected to sell a stake in the IPO, had acquired its Luberef holding in 2007 from Exxon Mobil Corp. Exxon had originally invested in the refinery in 1978.

As per MRC, Saudi Aramco said it plans to invest in a USD7 B project to produce petrochemicals from crude oil at its South Korean affiliate S-Oil Corp's refining complex in the port city of Ulsan. The project, named Shaheen, is the Saudi company's biggest investment in South Korea and will mark the first commercial use of Aramco and Lummus technology to produce chemicals from crude, Aramco said in a statement.
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Nils Andersen will step down as Chair and member of the Supervisory Board of AkzoNobel to accept a new board position outside of the company, sai the company.

Commenting on the announcement, Byron Grote, Deputy Chair of the Supervisory Board, said: “We congratulate Nils Andersen on his new opportunity and at the same time we deeply regret to see him go. Nils stepped into the role of Chair of the Supervisory Board during a very turbulent time. His extensive international experience in different industries and his broad business insight have helped guide AkzoNobel’s transformation into a frontrunner in the paints and coatings industry. The company’s relationship with its shareholders and other stakeholders significantly improved under his leadership.”

Nils Andersen will step down at the Annual General meeting to be held in April 2023. The Supervisory Board will announce a successor, to be nominated for appointment at the next AGM, in due course.

We remind, AkzoNobel has become the global refinish partner for new energy vehicle manufacturer BYD Auto Sales Company Ltd. – currently the world’s leading seller of electric vehicles. The company has been a recommended supplier of vehicle refinish products and services to BYD in China since 2017. The new deal means that agreement will continue, while extending the partnership to serve BYD’s bodyshops and approved repairer networks worldwide.

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Technip Energies N.V. announces that the liquidity agreement entered into with Kepler Cheuvreux dated July 9, 2021, has been suspended as of November 22, 2022, pending renewal of the resolution of the general meeting of shareholders authorizing share buybacks, said the company.

The number of shares and amount allocated as of November 22, 2022, close of trading, to the Liquidity Contract was 8,900 shares and €9,780,454.34. As a reminder, the securities and amounts that were allocated to the Liquidity Agreement as of June 30, 2022, were 207,823 shares and EUR6,832,747.61.

As per MRC, Shell Catalysts & Technologies and Technip Energies are building on their successful track record of collaboration by strengthening their strategic alliance, which aims to drive cost-effective, large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects by providing a combination of state-of-the-art technology and project management excellence.

Technip Energies is a leading Engineering & Technology company for the energy transition, with leadership positions in LNG, hydrogen and ethylene as well as growing market positions in blue and green hydrogen, sustainable chemistry and CO2 management. The Company benefits from its robust project delivery model supported by an extensive technology, products and services offering.

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