Linde to supply nitrogen for USD4bn Indonesian petrochemical project

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Industrial gas major Linde will expand nitrogen supply to a new USD4bn petrochemical project in Cilegon, Indonesia, owned and operated by Lotte Chemical Indonesia (LCI), said Gasworld.

Having today (14th Dec) signed a 20-year agreement with the company, Linde will build, own and operate a new pipeline across the Cilegon Industrial Park.

According to a statement released by the company, when the pipeline comes onstream in June 2024, it will have additional capacity to meet the needs of current and future customers located within the industrial cluster.

“We are pleased to expand our business relationship with Lotte Chemical in Indonesia,” enthused Vinayak Kembhavi, President of Linde Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. “This pipeline investment also opens new opportunities for Linde to expand our supply to additional industrial customers and is key to support Indonesia’s economic growth."

Some of the main industrial uses of nitrogen includes the manufacture of ammonia that is required for fertiliser, although the gas is also used in several commercial foods and drinks production processes such as in modified atmospheric packaging (MAP) and as an alternative to CO2 carbonation.

We remind, Linde, the world’s largest industrial gases company, said on Tuesday it has started producing green hydrogen at its facilities in Greece. Green hydrogen is made from water by electrolysis using renewable wind and solar power. The U.S.-German company, which supplies gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen to factories and hospitals, said it was the first green hydrogen production in Greece. Hydrogen is key in Europe’s energy transition to a sustainable environment and net zero emissions by 2050.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Azelis, a leading global innovation service provider in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients industry, announced a new distribution agreement with Sun Chemical, a global leader in inks, coatings, pigments, and advanced materials, said the company.

Effective from January 1st, 2023, this new mandate allows Azelis to strengthen its portfolio of pigment products in the coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers (CASE) and advanced materials & additives (AM&A) markets in France and Benelux. The agreement includes the pigment portfolio that Sun Chemical acquired from BASF in 2021.

This mandate is an expansion of the long-standing partnership between Sun Chemical and Azelis. Sun Chemical offers a variety of pigments that meet high performance as well as sustainability requirements for a range of coatings, inks, and plastics. The new products enable Azelis to position itself as a market-leading pigment provider.

To ensure a high and qualitative investment into innovation, Azelis’ team is now supported by a new Business Development Manager for Pigments, Berna Noyan. This addition strengthens Azelis’ capacity to assure that industrial chemicals customers will benefit from a broad product portfolio, solid backup, and technical expertise.

We remind, Azelis has agreed to acquire Chemiplas Agencies, a distributor of specialty chemicals, plastic raw materials and ingredients in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Chemiplas has about 100 employees who serve more than 1,900 companies from headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand and six other offices across Australia and New Zealand.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a EUR 120 MM loan to Repsol to support the construction and operation of the first advanced biofuels production plant at the company's facilities in Cartagena, (Region of Murcia), said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The plant will produce second generation and advanced biofuels from different types of waste primarily from the agri-food industry, such as used cooking oils, as part of the transition process towards a more circular economy. Construction work began in March this year and is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2023.

While second-generation biofuels are derived from a broad range of biogenic residues including used cooking oils, certain animal fats and vegetable oils that cannot be used as food or are derived from crops that do not compete with food, advanced biofuels are produced specifically from a subset of biogenic feedstocks listed in Part A of Annex IX of the REDII directive.

These biofuels are a sustainable solution for all segments of mobility, especially for those that have no other alternative to decarbonize their activity, such as maritime, long-distance or aviation transport. They can reduce net CO2 emissions by between 70% and 90% compared with the traditional fuels they replace. The EIB financing will also support research programs for advanced biofuels technologies conducted at Repsol's Technology Lab in Madrid.

The production plant will be located within the premises of Repsol’s industrial complex in Cartagena, Region of Murcia - an EU cohesion region. The plant will process 300,000 tpy of lipidic residues for the production of up to 250,000 tpy of 2nd generation or/and advanced biofuels for the transport sector.

Speaking at the signature event in Madrid, EIB Vice President, Ricardo Mourinho Felix said: “The EIB is committed to financing green transformation, the use of alternative energy sources and innovative research programs across Europe. The EIB loan contributes to Repsol’s strategy to transform its business model and to its decarbonization strategy. We are pleased to be collaborating with companies such as Repsol which are taking steps towards decarbonizing business activity and strengthening resilience to climate change."

Commenting on the agreement, Repsol’s CFO, Antonio Lorenzo, said: “We are proud to be the first company in the sector to obtain this type of financing, which is a result of our commitment to execute ground-breaking projects in support of a rapid, effective and just energy transition."

We remind, Repsol S.A. (Madrid, Spain), Naturgy and Reganosa are joining forces to develop a renewable hydrogen production center in Galicia, Spain. The project involves the installation of an electrolysis plant powered by 100% renewable energy on the grounds of the former Meirama thermal power plant in the municipality of Cerceda (A Coruna). With the promotion of this energy vector, the three companies reinforce their commitment to a fair energy transition.
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MOOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a specialty material solutions provider, announced updates to its asset restructuring initiatives, said the company.

In aggregate, these actions are expected to result in approximately USD60 million of annual profitability improvement versus the fourth quarter run rate, most of which will be realized in 2023. These actions consist of the following:

Closure of manufacturing operations at the styrene production facility in Boehlen, Germany. The closure is the result of an uncompetitive position in the global styrene market due to the site’s subscale size, industry capacity additions and elevated natural gas prices in Europe.

Closure of one polycarbonate production line in Stade, Germany due to an uncompetitive position in the global polycarbonate market. The Company will continue to produce polycarbonate for use in its downstream compounding business with the remaining assets. The line closure is expected to result in lower costs and significantly less exposure to the cyclical merchant polycarbonate market.

Consolidation of the PMMA sheet manufacturing site in Matamoros, Mexico into the continuous sheet manufacturing operation of Aristech Surfaces in Florence, Kentucky.

Capacity reduction of SB latex at the Hamina, Finland site starting mid-year 2023 due to over-capacity of SB latex in Europe.

Trinseo expects to incur USD79 million to USD89 million of pre-tax, non-recurring charges related to the cessation of manufacturing activities at these facilities. Of this, USD55 million to USD61 million is expected to be incurred in the fourth quarter of 2022, with the remainder expected to be incurred through 2024. The cash amount of these charges is expected to be USD67 million to USD77 million, including approximately USD40 million in 2023, with substantially all expected to be incurred through 2024. The actual timing and costs of these actions may differ from the Company’s current expectations and estimates, and such differences may be material. These charges are subject to ongoing negotiations with the works councils, industrial associations and government authorities.

Additionally, on November 29, 2022, the European Commission issued a final decision imposing a fine to Trinseo in the amount of EUR32.6 million related to the commission’s 2018 investigation of styrene purchasing practices in Europe. This amount was in line with our previously recorded liability and was paid in full in December 2022.

We remind, Trinseo, a specialty material solutions provider and Japan Steel Works Europe GmbH (JSW EU), a group company of The Japan Steel Works, Ltd. (JSW), a manufacturer of industrial and plastics machinery, recently announced a collaborative effort on chemical recycling of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).

Trinseo a specialty material solutions provider, partners with companies to bring ideas to life in an imaginative, smart, and sustainability-focused manner by combining its premier expertise, forward-looking innovations and best-in-class materials to unlock value for companies and consumers. From design to manufacturing, Trinseo taps into decades of experience in diverse material solutions to address customers’ unique challenges in a wide range of industries, including consumer goods, mobility, building and construction, and medical.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi and Snam Chief Executive Officer Stefano Venier signed an agreement to jointly develop and manage Phase 1 of the Ravenna Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project, through an equal joint venture, said the company.

The agreement also includes the implementation of studies and preparatory activities for the subsequent development phases. Phase 1 of the Ravenna CCS Project covers the capture of 25,000 tons of CO2 emitted from Eni's natural gas treatment plant in Casalborsetti (Ravenna). Once captured, the CO2 will be piped to the Porto Corsini Mare Ovest platform and injected into the homonymous depleted gas field in Ravenna’s offshore.

Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi commented: "Today it is necessary to join forces in order to reconcile decarbonization goals, energy security and competitiveness. This agreement represents an example of excellence, leveraging industrial synergies to contribute to the decarbonisation of Italy’s production system. Phase 1 of the Ravenna Project will allow to reduce emissions from the Casalborsetti power plant, launching in Italy a project based on a mature technological process that is key for the achievement of our climate goals. CCS is complementary to renewables, to energy efficiency solutions and to the other available levers, and is central to avoiding CO2 emissions from highly energy-intensive sectors that currently have no technological alternatives for decarbonisation”.

Snam CEO Stefano Venier said: "It is a fact that CCS technologies have consolidated their role at a global level as a tool available to achieve decarbonisation goals, and for this reason they are gaining more and more attention from governments, investors and industry players. CCS projects are being developed globally and are already at an advanced stage both in Europe - especially in the UK, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries - and in the US. This joint venture sets the first initiative in Italy with the ambition to offer a solution to the entire hard-to-abate production cluster in the Po Valley, and potentially also to other Italian regions as well as other countries bordering the Mediterranean basin. Snam will contribute to the project with its know-how and distinctive skills in the transport and management of molecules, in this case CO2."

The project represents a fundamental step to respond to the decarbonisation needs of steel mills, cement plants, ceramics and chemical industries and more generally of the “hard-to-abate” industry through an immediately available, highly efficient and effective technological process, which makes it possible to exploit the infrastructures and skills already present in the area. The planned activities will create new job opportunities, with an overall estimate of over 500 new jobs during Phase 1 of the project.

The important role of CCS in climate change mitigation strategies is reflected in the analyses of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), which in their latest reports confirm CO2 capture, utilisation and storage as one of the “must-have” solutions for achieving climate goals. Eni and Snam are related parties. Both companies applied its own internal procedure.

We remind, Eni is studying the possibility of developing and operating a biorefinery in Malaysia together with Japan's Euglena and Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas). The plant would be based in the integrated refinery and petrochemical Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) in Southeast Asia, they said in a joint statement. An investment decision for the project is expected by 2023 and the plant is targeted to be completed by 2025.

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