PTT Global Chemical proceeds with the dissolution of phenol and GCO as part of restruction plan

PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited announced that it will proceed with the dissolution of two subsidiaries after the acquisition of entire businesses as part of the business restructuring plan, said the company.

PTTGC cited its statement disclosed to the Thai stock market on July 4, 2022 stated that the company’s Board of Directors held on December 13, 2021 had the resolution to approve to acquire the entire or part of business and the dissolution of the company’s subsidiaries which the group business restructuring will better support the company’s long-term strategy including the business expansion internationally, sales and development of High Value Products, enhancing the company’s governance efficiency of group of companies both domestically and internationally, and also support the company’s Sustainability strategy.

The company noted that the acquisition of the entire business of PTT Phenol Co.,Ltd. (Phenol) and GC Oxirane Co.,Ltd. (GCO) by the company was part of the business restructuring plan which was effective under the law on February 1, 2023 and the company will further proceed with the dissolution of Phenol and GCO.

As per MRC, PTT Global Chemical America announced plans to build a new plastics recycling facility in central Ohio.
PTTGCA, the company that has proposed construction of an ethane cracker plant in Belmont County, and the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to locate a new recycling complex on SWACO property.
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OMV’s fourth-quarter (Q4) clean operating result for its Chemicals & Materials division sank 89%, year on year, to EUR57m on weaker margins and demand, said the company.

A stronger result contribution from OMV base chemicals was more than offset by substantial negative inventory valuation effects in the nitrogen and polyolefins business, a strong decline in polyolefin indicator margins in Europe, lower sales volumes in Europe, and a lower contribution from the Borealis joint ventures (JV), OMV said.

The contribution of Borealis excluding JV dropped sharply by EUR360m to minus EUR23m versus EUR337m in Q4 of 2021.

Results were weighed by negative inventory valuation effects that were around EUR200m lower compared to Q4 of 2021, lower polyolefin indicator margins compared to the strong levels of the final quarter of the previous year, and lower polyolefin sales volumes in Europe, said OMV.

The contribution of the Borealis JVs decreased by EUR119m to EUR19m versus EUR138m in Q4 of 2021, mainly due to a negative contribution from its Baystar JV with Total in the US as well as a lower contribution from Abu Dhabi’s polymers complex Borouge, OMV said.

PE sales volumes from Borealis’ JVs decreased by 6%, while polypropylene (PP) sales volumes from JV grew by 33%.

Compared to Q4 2021, sales volumes at Borouge grew, with PP sales volumes in particular benefiting greatly from the full ramp-up of the new PP unit (PP5).

We remind, OMV has announced its new corporate structure, designed to fully enable the delivery of Strategy 2030. OMV’s new strategy evolves around its long-term goal of becoming a net-zero company by 2050 at the latest and driving its transition towards becoming a leading integrated sustainable fuels, chemicals and materials company. At the same time, OMV is striving to become a global leader in circular economy solutions and will also build a low-carbon business in the energy sector, which includes geothermal energy and carbon capture and storage (CCS) in particular.

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Russian energy minister Nikolai Shulginov said there was no reason for a sharp reduction in the country's petroleum products output in response to a European Union embargo, said Hyrocarbonprocessing.

Interfax cited Shulginov as saying that Russia was not considering rescheduling maintenance works at refineries because of the embargo and that the price of Russian gas supplies to Belarus in 2023 would remain at the same level set in 2022.

We remind, Kazakhstan, the world's largest landlocked country, increased oil exports that bypassed Russia last year, but was still heavily reliant on supply channels via its neighbor, Reuters calculations based on industry data and sources show. Kazakhstan has sought ways to decrease its dependence on Russian exporting routes as it has often faced difficulties in selling oil through Russia.

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LyondellBasell’s Q4 net profit was down 51% to USD353m year on year on weakness in its petrochemicals and polymers businesses but stronger-than-usual margins for oxyfuels and refining, said the company.

Q4 sales were down 21% at USD10.2bn with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the period 43% lower at USD792m.

“During the fourth quarter, price and margin pressures from new supply, customer destocking and weak demand in petrochemical markets stabilized at levels seen toward the end of the third quarter,” the company said.

Operating rates were reduced to match lower demand and decreased working capital by more than USD700m over the period, it added.

“Lower product prices were partially offset by moderating energy and feedstock costs. Margins for products from LyondellBasell’s oxyfuels and refining businesses remained well above typical fourth quarter levels,” it said.

We remind, LyondellBasell announced it has signed the first two European renewable electricity power purchase agreements (PPAs) and two additional PPAs in the United States. The combined additional contracts represent a total of approximately 560 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity. LyondellBasell has now signed eight PPA agreements and achieved over half of its 2030 target to procure a minimum of 50 percent of global electricity from renewable sources.
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Germany-based Revalyu Resources is investing USD50 million to build its first polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle recycling plant in the United States, said Plasticstoday.

The chemical recycling site will be in Statesboro, GA. “Groundbreaking for the first plant will be June 2023 and commissioning [in] Q3, 2024,” Vivek Tandon, revalyu’s founder, tells PlasticsToday. The 43-acre Statesboro facility will employ about 70 people.

Initially, the Georgia plant is expected to recycle and process more than 12 million PET bottles per day, transforming 225,000 pounds of PET waste into sustainable PET esters and recycled PET (rPET) chips. The company plans to ramp up to a recycling capacity of 450,000 pounds of PET per day at the new plant.

The new US facility will bring revalyu, which also has a PET chemical recycling plant in Nashik, India, closer to its target of recycling more than 2 million pounds of used PET bottles per day by 2026. Revalyu’s glycolysis cehmical recycling process uses 91% less energy and 67% less water than conventional PET recycling.

The company’s chemical recycling technology uses low-temperature glycolysis to depolymerize post-consumer PET bottles into monomers. The monomers are then filtered to remove all impurities before being repolymerized.

A low temperature ensures the integrity of molecular bonds during depolymerization and lowers energy use and cost vs. high-temperature depolymerization. According to revalyu, its recycling process uses 91% less energy and 67% less water than conventional PET recycling.

In addition, revalyu uses mono-ethylene glycol (MEG), which is one of the two components of polyester, as a solvent. Thus, the process includes no chemicals foreign or toxic to polyester.

The result of revalyu’s recycling process is very pure, sustainable PET that can used to directly replace PET produced from petrochemicals. The quality of the rPET is quality equivalent to that of virgin PET.

The rPET chips from revalyu can be used to make new food and nonfood bottles, clothing, fotwear, carpeting, soft furnishings, car seat belts, and in other textile applications.

We remind, after a construction time of nine months and investment of around 7.5 million euros, Austrian plastics manufacturer and recycler Alpla, together with its partners Ecohelp SRL (Romania) and United Polymer Trading AG (Switzerland), have started production at their joint recycling plant in Targu Mures, Romania. The plant, located adjacent to the existing Ecohelp site in Targu Mures, has an annual capacity of around 18,000 tonnes of post-consumer-recycled PET (rPET) per year and aims to supply the southeast European market with food-grade rPET. The project has led to the creation of around 20 new jobs. The joint venture partners will host the official opening ceremony on 4 May 2023.

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