Chimei begins mass production at new PS plant in China

Zhangzhou CHIMEI Chemical Co., Ltd. announced the official start of mass production at its newly-built PS production lines on March 10, said the company.

These production lines, with an annual capacity of 350,000 tons, are expected to be fully operational in the second half of this year. Combined with the PS production capacity of Zhenjiang CHIMEI, they will strengthen the CHIMEI Group's presence and customer service in the mainland market. The addition of the new production capacity will bring CHIMEI's total annual PS production capacity to 920,000 tons.

The construction of the Zhangzhou CHIMEI PS plant took 20 months. High-quality safety designs and advanced environment-friendly equipment were used in the construction to build an energy-efficient, safe, environmentally friendly, and high-performance next-generation plastics plant.

Zhangzhou CHIMEI Chemical Co., Ltd., a reinvestment by CHIMEI Corporation, was founded in August 2018. It is located in the Gulei Port Economic Development Zone in Zhangzhou, Fujian. The first phase of the plant's ABS capacity of 450,000 tons per annum (tpa) started in September 2021 and will increase to 600,000 tpa, together with the PC capacity of 180,000 tpa expected to start in 2025, bringing the plant's total future capacity to one million tpa.

We remind, Lummus Technology announced it has been awarded a contract by Zhangzhou CHIMEI Chemical Co. Ltd. for digitalization services at their petrochemical facility in Gulei, Fujian Province, China.

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BASF Venture Capital GmbH (BVC), the corporate venture capital company of BASF SE, is investing in WayBeyond. Founded in New Zealand and now headquartered in the United States, WayBeyond is an Internet of things (IoT) and software as a service (SaaS) company that aims to improve crop yields, crop quality and grower profitability for low-to-mid tech controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) operations using data capture, farm management, and prediction tools, said the company.

CEA refers to a variety of systems that take a technology-based approach to farming, which includes glasshouses, greenhouses, net houses and tunnels. CEA growing operations typically produce tomatoes, berries, cucumbers and peppers. Growth in CEA, specifically low-to-mid tech CEA, is expected to increase steadily as the global population increases and as sustainability goals drive concerns of food shortages, encouraging growers to reduce the environmental footprint of their operations. Major production markets include Mexico, Morocco and Spain, while CEA is also growing in other regions including Southeast Asia, both North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. Export markets include the United States and Europe.

WayBeyond is transforming the CEA industry with their data collection tools and AI-powered agronomy insights platform, FarmRoad. FarmRoad is an expert agronomist for every farm that gives growers farm- and crop-specific insights and recommendations to transform their growing decisions, improving yield, consistency and quality for more sustainable farming. WayBeyond also partners with seed producers to utilize the FarmRoad platform and FarmRoad’s crop-contextual AI for seed efficacy and quality transformation.

Markus Solibieda, Managing Director of BASF Venture Capital GmbH, said: “The use of controlled-environment agriculture to grow fruits and vegetables continues to expand globally. As the next generation of growers enters the agriculture industry, we believe that their entry point will be CEA. WayBeyond is positioned to transform the way these CEA farmers grow the crops that will feed our growing population."

“WayBeyond’s solutions not only help growers visualize their growing operations, but also provide growers with the agronomic recommendations that they need to optimize yield and yield quality,” added Neal Okarter, Investment Manager at BVC in Los Angeles, California.

“We are delighted to have BVC as an investor. As a strategic VC fund, they are in a special position to appreciate WayBeyond as a disruptive business model. We are perfectly aligned around the vision of a digitally empowered, sustainable agricultural industry that will bring vast benefits to the seed and crop protection providers. Together, we are focused on supporting farm operators and growers,” saids Darryn Keiller, Founder and CEO of WayBeyond.

We remind, BASF said it would cut 2,600 jobs, halt share buybacks and hike investment to improve competitiveness as it warned of a further decline in earnings due to rising costs. The German chemicals giant said in a statement that adjusted 2023 earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), would fall to between 4.8-5.4 billion euros (USD5.09-USD5.69 billion) from 6.9 billion euros in 2022, which was down 11.5% from 2021.

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Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), a global sustainable chemical producer, today outlined its business strategy at its 2023 Capital Markets Day in Bangkok, including enhancing competitiveness and applying a disciplined and sustainable approach to new opportunities as demand for the company’s products continues to grow globally, said the company.

Since 2019 – a three-year period that included unprecedented pandemic-related disruptions – Indorama Ventures’ revenue grew 65% to a record USD18.7 billion in FY2022, while EBITDA rose 160% to USD2.4 billion. The company forecast continued high demand for its diversified, global portfolio of products – more than 70% of which are used in daily consumer necessities that are resistant to economic downturns, including in packaging, clothes, tires, baby diapers, and chemicals used in shampoos.

Mr. Aloke Lohia, Indorama Ventures Group CEO, said “The company is developing and empowering the next generation of leaders with a ‘growth mindset’ as a cornerstone of a program to enhance competitiveness and create value through disciplined and sustainable growth."

“We are, and always will be a growth company, and we are embedding this entrepreneurial mindset into the next generation of leaders who can build agile, fast, precise and innovative businesses that can deliver value in an increasingly volatile world,” Mr Lohia said.

To remain competitive, the company is constantly reviewing its diverse, global portfolio of integrated businesses to maximize use of employed capital and maintain management’s historical focus on managing costs. It is also employing new digital toolsets, such as the global rollout of SAP S/4HANA to optimize productivity and enable more agile decision-making to realize full business potential.

Mr DK Agarwal, Deputy Group CEO, said: “Indorama Ventures has undisputed leadership positions in many of our end markets, with enormous scope to expand organically and inorganically. These transformational initiatives are empowering our managers to quickly capture opportunities created by the volatile environment to grow our businesses."

Indorama Ventures has a disciplined strategy to capitalize on its integrated platform of growth businesses through organic growth and new acquisitions that deliver on strict performance criteria. These metrics include an enhanced core EBITDA margin, a 15% return on employed capital, contribution to earnings quality, and allowing the company to maintain balance sheet discipline. Since 2020, the company has expanded in substantial new growth areas, including by developing its newest Integrated Oxides and Derivatives (IOD) segment through acquisitions such as Oxiteno in 2021 and Huntsman assets in 2020.

Mr Agarwal added “All three of our business segments – Combined PET, Fibers and IOD – are connected by polyester, which is fully circular. Our growth comes from selectively building our portfolio in diversified segments along our chosen polyester-based value chain, which means sustainability potential is innately built into our model. Our Vision 2030 is about building on our industry leadership in sustainability, including through increasing our recycling capacity, introducing more circular feedstock into our products, and building resilience throughout our business.”

We remind, Indorama Ventures, which recently launched its first recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET) plant in the Philippines in a joint venture (JV) with Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines (CCBPI), expects persistent challenges in availing themselves of sufficient feedstock.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, listed in Thailand (Bloomberg ticker IVL.TB), is one of the world’s leading petrochemicals producers, with a global manufacturing footprint across Europe, Africa, Americas, and Asia Pacific. The company’s portfolio comprises Combined PET, Integrated Oxides and Derivatives, and Fibers. Indorama Ventures products serve major FMCG and automotive sectors, i.e., beverages, hygiene, personal care, tire and safety segments. Indorama Ventures has about 26,000 employees worldwide and revenue of USD18.7 billion in 2022. The Company is listed in the Dow Jones Emerging Markets and World Sustainability Indices (DJSI).

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Lummus Technology announced Butadiene LLP has selected its iC4 CATOFIN®, CATADIENE®, CDMtbe® technologies and BASF's butadiene extraction technology for units at Butadiene LLP's new petrochemical plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan, said the company.

"We are grateful to be selected and provide multiple technologies and solutions to support Butadiene LLP's growth and expansion," said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. "Lummus' integrated solutions can help grow the economic position of our customer as they execute this important project for Kazakhstan its downstream industry."

"We look forward to partnering with Lummus on this project to upgrade mixed butanes to valuable petrochemicals," said Diaz Diyanov, General Director of Butadiene LLP. "Butadiene LLP will further develop Kazakhstan's petrochemical industry using Lummus' processes that have the lowest carbon footprint available in the marketplace today."

The scope of this award includes the technology license and basic engineering for four process units. Once complete, the units will upgrade a mixed butanes feed to produce 85,000 MTA of isobutylene, 120,000 MTA of butadiene, and 40,000 MTA of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). These products will feed Butadiene LLP's new synthetic rubber production facility and supply the local Kazakhstan transportation fuels market.

In addition to the licensed technologies, Butadiene LLP will have access to Lummus' portfolio of lifecycle services during the implementation and operation stages of this project, such as advanced operator training simulators, extended technical support and digitalization services.

Lummus is the exclusive supplier for the on-purpose butadiene CATADIENE technology, and both CATADIENE and CATOFIN technologies utilize Clariant's state-of-the-art catalyst. With nearly 150 licensed units, Lummus is the leader in etherification technology like CDMtbe. Lummus has been licensing the BASF butadiene extraction technology for over 30 years, and it is recognized worldwide for its environmentally friendly design and low operating costs.

We remind, KazMunayGas (KMG) and Chevron Philips Chemical representatives signed a license and engineering agreement for the second phase of the construction of an integrated gas and chemical complex in the Atyrau region. A meeting between Magzum Myrzagaliyev, Board Chair of KMG, and Venki Chandrashekar, Vice President for Research and Technology of Chevron Phillips Chemical, was held on December 11.

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LyondellBasell and Grenergy signed five long-term solar power purchase agreements (PPAs). Under the 15-year contracts, the Spanish renewable energy producer will supply solar energy from the La Cereal solar farm project, which is expected to be operational at the end of 2025, said the company.

The agreements represent about 329,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of solar power annually, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of more than 90,000 European homes.

"With these agreements, LyondellBasell has now achieved 70% of our target to procure at least half of our electricity from renewable sources by 2030,” said Willemien Terpstra, LyondellBasell vice president, Decarbonization. "In total, our PPA portfolio will generate over 2.9 million megawatt hours of renewable electricity and reduce our company’s scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by more than one million tons."

"This PPA will help to optimize the financing of Grenergy's largest project to date in Spain," said David Ruiz de Andres, CEO of Grenergy. "Its development also strengthens the weight of our European portfolio, which we expect to double from the current 25% to 45% by 2025. A proven structure and ability to close PPAs is key to keeping up the pace of connections and achieving our strategic targets."

The 259 megawatts (MW) La Cereal solar farm project is part of the Clara Campoamor photovoltaic solar energy project, which Grenergy is developing between the Madrid and Castilla La Mancha region. The total installed electricity capacity will be approximately 575 MW, and it will become one of the largest photovoltaic parks in Europe.

These agreements demonstrate LyondellBasell continued progress towards the company’s goal to reduce its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050.

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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