LyondellBasell secures advanced recycled feedstock with Nexus Circular

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell and Nexus Circular announced they have signed a definite long-term contract, which will supply LyondellBasell with approximately 24,000 tpy of recycled feedstock, said the company.

The material will be produced at Nexus Circular's new advanced recycling facility, which will begin construction in 2023. The new facility will convert mixed plastic waste, which today mostly ends up in landfills or incineration, into recycled feedstock. LyondellBasell will use the recycled feedstock at its Channelview, Texas facility to produce new plastics which will be marketed under the CirculenRevive brand.

"Customers and brand owners need sustainable solutions to meet their 2030 recycling commitments, and this contract is a concrete step toward advancing partnerships across the value chain," said Yvonne van der Laan, LyondellBasell Executive Vice President, Circular and Low Carbon Solutions. "This agreement is aligned with our circularity ambitions, advancing us closer to our 2030 goal."

Nexus Circular is a commercial leader in advanced recycling with a proven proprietary technology and a leading process design that converts landfill-bound films and other hard-to-recycle plastics into high-quality liquids which are then used to produce virgin-quality plastics. Since 2018, Nexus has been consistently supplying commercial volumes of ISCC Plus certified circular liquid products, having diverted over 8 million pounds of used plastics from landfill.

Clint Thompson, Chief Commercial Officer at Nexus, stated, "We are pleased to collaborate with LyondellBasell to leverage our proven commercial solution that unlocks the full value of plastics and accelerates the transition to a circular economy."

We remind, LyondellBasell announced that PetroChina Jilin Petrochemical Company will again license LyondellBasell’s polyethylene technology at their facility located in Jilin City, Jilin Province, P.R. of China. The newly licensed technology will comprise of LyondellBasell’s leading high-pressure Lupotech process technology which will be used for both a 100 kiloton per year (KTA) Autoclave and a 300 KTA Tubular line. Both production trains will produce mainly low-density polyethylene (LDPE) with ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA). Furthermore, an additional 400 KTA Hostalen “Advanced Cascade Process” (ACP) line for the production of high density polyethylene (HDPE) will be built at the same time.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co has shut the 150,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Hokkaido refinery in northern Japan on Feb. 14 due to system trouble, said Hydrocarbonprocessing, citing a company spokesperson.

He declined to comment on details of the glitch, but said it expects to restart operations soon.

We remind, Toray Industries, Inc., and Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. have agreed to build a supply chain for plastics made from biomass naphtha. They would manufacture biomass styrene monomer derived from biomass naphtha and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin made from that monomer.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sulzer has signed an agreement with circular technology company Fuenix Ecogy to acquire a strategic stake in its plastic upcycling business, said the company.

The partnership will drive the development, commercialization and adoption of advanced, fully integrated solutions for plastic waste processing. The move will allow Sulzer to offer complete recycling lines based on Fuenix’s Ecogy technology and Sulzer’s own proven separation and purification solutions. Sulzer Chemtech is an established licensor of reaction and separation technologies aimed at driving the chemical recycling of materials.

Fuenix Ecogy technology converts sorted end-of-life mixed plastic waste into high-value hydrocarbons with virgin-like properties. The solution offers high recovery and conversion rates, enabling a high degree of circularity in the plastic value chain.

With this strategic investment, Sulzer is sharing its leading technical expertise to support the scale up and commercialization of a cutting-edge pyrolysis technology. The agreement also expands Sulzer Chemtech’s technology licensing portfolio for polymer processing, in line with its overarching mission to help industry adopt more sustainable practices.

As the exclusive licensor of the technology, Sulzer Chemtech will be able to offer complete as well as partial recycling lines based on Fuenix’s Ecogy pyrolysis technology and its own proven separation and purification solutions. At the same time, Sulzer Chemtech will continue to offer its separation and purification know-how and solutions to other plastic recycling technologies.

We remind, Sulzer Chemtech is providing process engineering and key equipment for the expansion of Dongsuh Indonesia (DSI) naphthalene downstream sector. The delivery of an advanced separation unit to DSI’s plant in Serang, Indonesia, will enable the production of high purity naphthalene that can be used for applications with stringent quality requirements.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- MOL Group announced its financial results for Q4 and full year 2022, said the company.

The company generated USD 1,074mn in Q4 2022, bringing full-year EBITDA to USD 4,702mn. Upstream and Downstream together provided 95% of this result in half-half proportion, supported by the overall positive oil macro environment.

Chairman-CEO Zsolt Hernadi commented the results: “Last year was a real test from every possible aspect in our industry, I am proud to say that MOL managed to navigate successfully through the countless challenges and delivered both operationally and financially. The war in Ukraine and its consequences on supply security, the unpredictable macro conditions and regulatory measures have brought unprecedented challenges to MOL’s skilled employees who did great during the constant crisis situation.

The robust EBITDA in 2022 – even with the extreme high taxes, price caps and regulatory measures in place – gives the possibility to continue our transformational and development journey laid down in the Shape Tomorrow 2030+ strategy. Accordingly we made inaugural investments in green hydrogen production, and set foot in waste management that is a big step towards our circular economy-related strategic goals.

It is clear to us that 2023 will be no easier, but I believe that MOL’s proven resilience will help us navigate through these uncertain times with confidence.”

We remind, MOL Petrochemicals, a subsidiary of the Hungarian oil and gas giant MOL Group, recently laid the groundwork for a new propylene facility in Tiszajvaros, Hungary. The factory is constructed as a greenfield investment for roughly USD191 M and will generate 100,000 tonnes/y of propylene, meeting a quarter of MOL's chemical material demands and enhancing the company's self-sufficiency. The factory will supply propylene for the polyol site that is already under development. The new factory fits perfectly with MOL Group's aim of increasing the proportion of non-fuel goods in its range. MOL Group has contributed around USD4.5 bn to initiatives that will transform Tiszajvaros into the region's main chemical capital. The new facility will play an important part in the development process since it will offer a consistent supply of materials for MOL Petrochemicals' three product lines.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- PetroChina Guangdong Petrochemical has achieved on-spec benzene at its 3 million mt/year reformer and cracker (1.2 million mt/year ethylene) of its refining & chemical project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province over the weekend, according to the company sources, said Ccfgroup.

On-spec ethylene has been also achieved. The company is expected to get paraxylene (PX) on February 14, and to start its styrene unit as well on Feb 14.

PetroChina Guangdong Petrochemical has the total designed capacity to produce 810kt/year of benzene, 2.6 million mt/year of PX and 800kt/year of styrene.

We remind, PetroChina completed trial runs at a 1.2 million tonne-per-year ethylene facility in its newly launched refinery complex in south China on Sunday. PetroChina Guangdong PC announced that the ethylene plant, a 10-million-ton refining and chemical integration project, produced on-spec products and entered the stage of comprehensive trial production on Feb 12. PetroChina Guangdong Petrochemical Refining and Chemical Integration Project, located in Jieyang, Guangdong Province, covers an area of 920 hectares, with crude oil refining production capacity of 20 million mt/year aromatics capacity 2.6 million tons/year and ethylene capacity 1.2 million tons/year.

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