Evonik drives sustainability with start up of new membrane production plant

Evonik drives sustainability with start up of new membrane production plant

Evonik has started up a new hollow-fibre spinning plant for the production of gas separation membranes at Schorfling, Austria, said the company.

The new production capacity enables the company to meet the ongoing strong demand for SEPURAN membranes in biogas, nitrogen, hydrogen and natural gas applications. Evonik invested a low double-digit million-euro amount in the new plant and created around 30 new jobs in Schorfling.

Lauren Kjeldsen, head of the Smart Materials Division, says: “The growth path of the membranes business clearly follows the group’s new sustainability strategy.” Last May, Evonik announced plans to invest €3 billion by 2030 in Next Generation Solutions, products with superior sustainability benefits. The company’s goal is to increase sales of Next Generation Solutions from the current 37% to more than 50% by 2030. The rapid increase in demand for Next Generation Solutions offers above-average growth potential for Evonik. “With our innovations, we support our customers in making their own products more sustainable and improving their own climate footprint. Our membrane technology for efficient gas separation is a living example of how Next Generation Solutions from Evonik contribute to sustainable added value in close cooperation with all market players,” says Kjeldsen.

In the new production plant, a high-performance polymer is processed into fine hollow-fibers in several process steps. They are at the heart of Evonik’s SEPURAN membrane technology. The specialty chemicals company draws on its many years of expertise in polymer chemistry and adjusts key membrane properties already at the development stage of the base material — a high-performance polymer — to produce particularly selective and robust membranes that can withstand extreme pressures and temperatures.

We remind, Evonik is pooling its expertise and integrating its alkoxides business into the Catalysts Business Line. The extensive portfolio of heterogeneous catalysts is thus now complemented by homogeneous catalysts. An international network of production sites and the highly experienced alkoxides team will additionally strengthen the Catalysts Business Line, one of Evonik's growth areas, from January 2023.

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ADNOC looks to raise up to USD2 bln from IPO of gas unit

ADNOC looks to raise up to USD2 bln from IPO of gas unit

Investors snapped up all of the shares on offer in Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.'s natural gas business within hours after the initial public offering kicked off, showing that demand for Middle East share sales continues to remain strong, said Gulfnews.

Adnoc Gas' initial public offering order book was fully covered, according to a message sent to investors and seen by Bloomberg. Several funds, including Abu Dhabi state-linked entities, have committed USD850 million as cornerstone investors. Among them are also Alpha Dhabi and International Holding Co.

The UAE’s national oil company is seeking to raise as much as USD2 billion from its gas business in what is set to be the biggest IPO so far this year. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. is selling a 4 per cent stake in Adnoc Gas, with each of the 3.07 billion shares being offered at between Dh2.25 and Dh2.43.

At the top of the range the company will be valued at USD50.8 billion, making it one of the world's largest listed gas firms and roughly on a par with Eni SpA and Occidental Petroleum Corp.

ADNOC Gas will be the fifth ADNOC subsidiary or JV that will have a presence on ADX.

We remind, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) announced the formation of, ADNOC Gas, effective 1 Jan 2023, a new worldscale gas processing, operations and marketing company. ADNOC Gas combines the operations, maintenance and marketing of the ADNOC Gas Processing and ADNOC LNG (liquefied natural gas) businesses into one global consolidated business.

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Pembina to build NGL fractionator at Redwater Complex

Pembina to build NGL fractionator at Redwater Complex

Pembina will proceed with construction on a 55,000 bbl/day propane-plus fractionator at its existing Redwater fractionation and storage complex, said the company.

The project updates were included in the company’s Q4 earnings press release. The new fractionator will be RFS IV.

“The Redwater Complex is underpinned by long-term take-or-pay contracts and in recent quarters, Pembina has successfully extended existing contracts and signed incremental new contracts,” the company said. The existing facility is highly utilised and RFS IV is needed to meet customer demand, Pembina executives said.

Existing infrastructure at the Redwater Complex, including storage caverns and extensive unit train capable rail facilities, provide Pembina an ability to offer incremental fractionation capacity at a competitive cost.

RFS IV is expected to cost about USD460m and will leverage the design, engineering and operating best practices of its existing facilities, Pembina said. The project includes additional rail loading capacity at the Redwater Complex.

As per MRC, Pembina Pipeline and Inter Pipeline (IPL) are mulling the prospects of dehydrogenation/polypropylene (PDH/PP) production in Alberta province. On May 31, 2021, Pembina and Inter Pipeline entered into an agreement (the "Strategic Combination") to create one of the largest and best positioned energy infrastructure companies in Canada. Together the companies' diversified and integrated asset base can support and grow an extensive value chain for natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil, from wellhead to end user, that far exceeds anything either company can do separately.

Pembina Pipeline has been a gas supplier to the North American power system for over 60 years. Pembina owns and operates pipelines that transport a variety of hydrocarbon fluids, including conventional and synthetic crude oil and others, produced in Western Canada and North Dakota.

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Trinseo to slash quarterly dividend by 56%

Trinseo to slash quarterly dividend by 56%

Trinseo, a specialty material solutions provider, today announced that its Board of Directors authorized a quarterly dividend of USD0.14 per share, which represents a 56% reduction from the current quarterly dividend of USD0.32 per share, said the company.

“We remain committed to creating long-term value for our shareholders while maintaining a strong financial position. We believe taking the prudent decision to reduce the dividend will preserve liquidity and enable us to continue to invest in growth and sustainability projects through these challenging macroeconomic conditions,” said Frank Bozich, Trinseo’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

The dividend will be a cash distribution payable on April 20, 2023, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 6, 2023.

We remind, Trinseo reported a Q4 net loss of $365.3m largely because of a pre-tax, non-cash goodwill impairment charge of USD297m related to its PMMA business and Aristech Surfaces reporting units. The company saw Q4 sales fall by almost 25% compared with the same quarter a year go while costs fell at a slower pace. The following table shows the company's Q4 financial performance. Figures are in millions of dollars.

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Arkema Q4 adjusted net income falls 58.5%

Arkema Q4 adjusted net income falls 58.5%

Arkema's adjusted net income fell by 58.5% year on year in the fourth quarter of 2022, with sales volumes dropping on weak demand in China as well as a slowdown and destocking in Europe, said the company.

Arkema aims to achieve in 2023 an EBITDA of around EUR1.5bn to EUR1.6bn. "At the beginning of the year, the macroeconomic context is marked by a lack of visibility and ongoing weak demand, in the continuity of fourth-quarter 2022," the company said.

"A progressive improvement is expected from the spring and should gather momentum in the second part of the year," it added.

Following Arkema’s Board of Directors’ meeting, held on 22 February 2023 to approve the Group’s consolidated financial statements for 2022, Chairman and CEO Thierry Le Henaff said:

“Arkema achieved an excellent year in 2022 in many respects, first of all in terms of its financial performance, with EBITDA of over EUR2 billion, reflecting the efforts of all our employees, whom I would like to thank for their commitment in a demanding environment. We also finalized a high-quality acquisition, with Ashland’s adhesives, and entered the start-up phase at our production site in Singapore for polyamide 11 and its monomer, thus strengthening the Group’s profile, resolutely focused on innovative materials. It is also a great source of pride for the teams to be recognized by rating agencies as one of the leaders in our industry in terms of CSR.

2023 has begun in an economic context of weak demand, which requires us to be strict in managing our costs and working capital, while preparing for an improvement of the environment during the course of the second quarter. We have full confidence in the long-term prospects offered by our new developments focused on decarbonization and sustainable development, and we will continue to invest in these opportunities. We will leverage our cutting-edge innovation to continue to support our customers in their quest for sustainable performance.”

We remind, Arkema announces the doubling of its polyester resins capacity in its Navi Mumbai facility in India, reinforcing the Group’s leadership position in the global powder coatings market and its commitment to developing very low-VOC technologies. Arkema invested in the Navi Mumbai facility in early 2019 to expand geographic coverage of its high performance, more sustainable, low-VOC products, and to support its customers in their development. The site includes a modern manufacturing unit and a dedicated laboratory to provide application development and technical support in the region.

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