EU clears Agrofert acquisition of Borealis NITRO

EU clears Agrofert acquisition of Borealis NITRO

The European Commission has approved AGROFERT Group’s acquisition of the nitrogen business of Borealis AG (Borealis NITRO), the Commission said in a statement on Monday.

The transaction, announced last year, will raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area. In particular, the Commission found that the transaction would not significantly reduce competition in markets for:
- Nitrogen fertilisers
- AdBlue non-toxic liquid used as exhaust fluid for diesel engines
- Technical nitrogen products such as aqueous ammonia and weak nitric acid

Furthermore, the transaction does not raise concerns in relation to the distribution of nitrogen fertilisers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Commission said.

Borealis NITRO encompasses all nitrogen activities of Austria-based chemicals producer Borealis AG. AGROFERT is a Czech Republic-based nitrogen fertilizer company.

We remind, Borealis, one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and circular polyolefin solutions and a European market leader in base chemicals, fertilizers and the mechanical recycling of plastics, has received a binding offer from AGROFERT, a.s. for the acquisition of Borealis’ nitrogen business including fertilizer, melamine and technical nitrogen products. The offer values the business on an enterprise value basis at EUR 810 mn.

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NOVA Chemicals commercializes mechanically recycled polyethylene

NOVA Chemicals commercializes mechanically recycled polyethylene

NOVA Chemicals, a leading supplier of polyethylene (PE) for food packaging, delivered a commercialized FDA-compliant high-density recycled PE (rPE) resin to market, said the company.

The new grade is its first mechanically recycled food-contact resin and is part of the Company’s recently announced SYNDIGO rPE portfolio.

The resin, SYNDIGO rPE-0860-FC, is a lower-emission option compared to virgin PE and enables converters and brand owners to incorporate rPE into food packaging products. It is sourced from natural high-density PE milk jugs and is ideal for various types of flexible and rigid food packaging.

“Adding the first food-contact rPE to the SYNDIGO portfolio increases rPE usage and underscores our commitment to eliminating plastic waste and reducing the carbon footprint of plastic packaging,” said Alan Schrob, NOVA Chemicals director of mechanical recycling. “Achieving the high level of performance needed for use in food contact puts this recycled resin in a field with few others and allows our customers to target the most demanding applications."

We remind, NOVA Chemicals Corporation announced the establishment of NOVA Circular Solutions, a new line of business focusing on lower-emission, recycled solutions that will help reshape a better, more sustainable world. NOVA Circular Solutions will be home to the SYNDIGOTM brand, the company’s newest portfolio of recycled polyethylene (rPE). NOVA Circular Solutions is led by a team of experts in plastics development, recycling technology, additive science, packaging design, and regulatory compliance. It is headed by Alan Schrob, recycling director, who has nearly 30 years of experience in plastics, manufacturing, health, safety, and the environment.

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Unigel and thyssenkrupp nucera sign Memorandum of Understanding to increase production capacity of green hydrogen plant

Unigel and thyssenkrupp nucera sign Memorandum of Understanding to increase production capacity of green hydrogen plant

Thyssenkrupp nucera and Unigel have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to increase the capacity of the green hydrogen plant that Unigel is developing in Bahia, Brazil, from 60 MW to 240 MW of water electrolysis, said the company.

The signing ceremony was held in Belo Horizonte, during the visit of the German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Dr. Robert Habeck. This is a key step for both companies continue their good collaboration to accelerate the green transformation through the development of the green hydrogen economy worldwide.

Unigel's facility will be the first industrial-scale green hydrogen plant in Brazil. It is planned to be delivered at the end of the year. In the first phase, the plant will have a total water electrolysis capacity of 60 MW with thyssenkrupp nucera standard electrolyzers and an initial production capacity of 10,000 tons/year of green hydrogen and 60,000 tons/year of green ammonia. Unigel is one of the largest chemical companies in Latin America and the largest producer of nitrogen fertilizers in Brazil. The new plant will be an important stimulus for the development of the entire region.

“Unigel's green hydrogen plant will be the first on an industrial scale in Brazil. We continue to negotiate strategic partnerships to enable the new phases of the project”, said Roberto Noronha Santos, CEO of Unigel. The green hydrogen and green ammonia will be offered to customers seeking to decarbonize their production chains such as the steel industry, oil refineries and ammonia producers. Green ammonia will also be used in Unigel's value chain, as it is a raw material for the production of fertilizers and acrylics.

"Brazil has not only set ambitious climate protection plans, but is also implementing them. This includes, in particular, consistently exploiting the opportunities offered by green hydrogen. This is because Brazil is one of the nations predestined to take on a key role in the green transformation by consistently exploiting the potential in renewable energies. With our technologies for the development of a hydrogen economy, we are making our contribution to paving the way for the green transformation," says Dr. Werner Ponikwar, CEO and Chairman of thyssenkrupp nucera AG & Co. KGaA.

Federal Minister Dr. Robert Habeck is traveling to Brazil and Colombia from March 11 to 15. The aim of the trip is to strengthen economic relations and climate cooperation with Brazil and Colombia. Brazil and Colombia play a key role in global climate protection. This year's EEBA (German-Brazilian Business Meeting) will take place in Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil, where Federal Minister Dr. Robert Habeck will hold talks with representatives from politics and business. Participation in the signing ceremony is part of the official agenda of the delegation.

We remind, Unigel announced plans to build a green hydrogen plant in the northeastern state of Bahia, with an initial investment of USD120 million and the goal of making it one of the largest of its kind in the world. The plant will starts its production planned for late 2023. At this moment, Unigel's integrated green hydrogen and green ammonia plant is expected to be the largest in the world. In the first phase of the project, Unigel installs three 20 MW standard electrolyzers from thyssenkrupp nucera, adding up to a total capacity of 60 MW.

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LyondellBasell announces decision to acquire Mepol Group

LyondellBasell announces decision to acquire Mepol Group

LyondellBasell and Mepol Group announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for LyondellBasell to acquire Mepol Group, a manufacturer of recycled, high-performing technical compounds located in Italy and Poland, consisting of Mepol S.r.l. and its subsidiaries Polar S.r.l. and Industrial Technology Investments Poland Sp.z.o.o., said the company.

"This acquisition demonstrates LyondellBasell's commitment to move the circular economy forward," said Torkel Rhenman, executive vice president of Advanced Polymer Solutions. "With Mepol Group's expertise in sustainable compounds and LyondellBasell's scale, we will enhance our CirculenRecover and other sustainable solutions for our customers."

Mirco Melato, CEO of Mepol commented, "We are delighted to join forces with LyondellBasell, an industry leader we have admired for many years. LyondellBasell shares our commitment towards sustainability and with its scale and resources, the combined business will be better positioned to address customer needs."

LyondellBasell continues to pioneer circular and low carbon solutions for its customers. The company began engineering work for a new advanced recycling plant at its Wesseling, Germany site in November last year. LyondellBasell has existing mechanical recycling facilities in the Netherlands and Belgium and is developing new plastic waste sorting and recycling plants in Houston, Germany, China and India, which was announced during the fourth quarter of 2022.

The transaction closing is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. During this period, Mepol Group will continue to operate on a standalone basis. Jones Day and Wardynski & Partners served as LyondellBasell's legal advisor on the transaction. Special Affairs S.r.l. served as Mepol Group's financial advisor and Gitti & Partners is acting as its legal advisor.

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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BASF breaks ground on acrylic acid complex at Zhanjiang Verbund site in China

BASF breaks ground on acrylic acid complex at Zhanjiang Verbund site in China

BASF has broken ground on a new production complex at its Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China, that includes plants for glacial acrylic acid (GAA), butyl acrylate (BA) and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2-EHA), said the company.

Planned to come on stream by 2025, the complex will have an annual production capacity of approximately 400,000 metric tons of BA and 100,000 metric tons of 2-EHA.

"The groundbreaking marks a significant milestone in further expanding our production capacities in the acrylics value chain in China,” said Hartwig Michels, President of BASF’s Petrochemicals division. “These new world-scale facilities will enable us to meet the growing Chinese and Asian market demand for acrylics that are used in various industries like hygiene or paint and coatings."

“By strengthening our presence in key markets where our customers are located, we can more efficiently support our customers’ business growth. Being fully backward integrated in Zhanjiang Verbund site, the new acrylics facilities will provide our regional customers with a reliable supply of high-quality products with short lead times,” said Haibo Tian, Vice President, Industrial Petrochemicals Asia Pacific, at BASF.

Acrylic acid is an important precursor for the production of superabsorbent polymers. Butyl acrylate, an ester of acrylic acid, is used, for example, in the production of adhesives and architectural and industrial coatings. 2-ethylhexyl acrylate is an important raw material for adhesives and coatings.

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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