BASF to establish a co-located battery materials and recycling center

BASF celebrated the opening of Europe’s first co-located center of battery material production and battery recycling in Schwarzheide, Germany, said the company.

The inauguration of a state-of-the-art production facility for high-performance cathode active materials and the unveiling ceremony for a battery recycling plant for the production of black mass represent important steps toward closing the loop for the European battery value chain – from the collection of used batteries and the recovery of mineral raw materials to their use in the production of new battery materials. Major step in Europe to participate in the rapidly growing global battery market.

Battery materials are at the heart of lithium-ion batteries as they significantly determine their performance and therefore play a crucial role in the transformation of mobility.

“Despite all challenges we are currently facing in Europe, is a reason for all of us to be optimistic. The state-of the art cathode active materials plant and the recycling plant for black mass production underline that we at BASF believe in the future of the chemical industry in Europe and in Germany and invest in innovative products and services for our customers in our home market,” said Dr. Martin Brudermuller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE. “With our two investments we significantly contribute to the reduction of the CO2 footprint of batteries and close the loop for sustainable mobility."

We remind, BASF and Yara Clean Ammonia are collaborating on a joint study to develop and construct a world-scale low-carbon blue ammonia production facility with carbon capture in the U.S. Gulf Coast region. The companies are looking into the feasibility of a plant with a total capacity of 1.2 to 1.4 million tons p.a. to serve the growing global demand for low-carbon ammonia.

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Solvay has agreed to pay USD393m to the US state of New Jersey to address pollution caused by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), said the company.

Under the proposed settlement, Solvay does not admit to any liability. Some of the money will clean up the area around Solvay's plant in West Deptford in Gloucester county, New Jersey. It will also pay to update water systems so they can remove PFAS. The money will pay for compensation and for more studies on PFAS contamination.

The next step is for the state to gather comments from the public through 6 October about the settlement. After that, the state will review the comments and respond if necessary. The proposed settlement will then go before the court for approval.

The state alleged that Solvay used Surflon, a process aid that contained perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).

In November 2020, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) sued Solvay and the prior owner of the West Deptford plant, accusing the companies of doing too little to clean up the site.

Since the lawsuit, Solvay has stopped using PFAS in its process aids, the state said. The company started taking more steps to treat its wastewater.

We remind, Solvay has opened a new application development lab (ADL) in Shanghai, China, to expand its global footprint of its research and innovation facilities. The new facility will develop solutions for applications industries including automotive, new energy, life solutions and pharmacy, smart devices and semiconductors for Solvay’s customers active in local and global end markets.

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Norway's Yara and chemicals giant BASF are looking into developing and building a low-carbon blue ammonia production facility in the U.S Gulf coast region, as per Reuters.

The companies are planning to complete their feasibility study on the production facility by the end of this year, they said.

They are looking into the feasibility of a plant with a total capacity of 1.2 to 1.4 million tons per year, they added.

Yara, in a strategy update on Monday, said it had postponed a planned initial public offering of its Yara Clean Ammonia (YCA) business by one or two years due to an unsatisfactory market valuation.

So-called blue ammonia is produced from natural gas, with the carbon dioxide (CO2) byproduct captured and stored.

We remind, BASF has broken ground on a polyethylene (PE) plant at its Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China. The new plant with a capacity of 500,000 metric tons of PE annually will serve the fast-growing demand in China, said the company. The plant is scheduled to start up in 2025.

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The production cuts by OPEC+ may aim to keep crude prices high enough to satisfy the exporter group, but they are also starting to drive some unusual dynamics in the broader oil market, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

An example is the trade in physical cargoes from the Middle East where Unipec, the trading arm of top Chinese refiner Sinopec, has been selling heavily this month. A total of 64 cargoes, the bulk of which are Omani crude, have been traded so far in June, according to data compiled by Refinitiv Oil Research.

This is a large number by historical standards and Unipec has been the seller in about two-thirds of the cargoes traded. It appears that Unipec is trying through its aggressive selling to influence the regional Oman/Dubai regional price benchmark, most likely to keep it anchored around USD75 a barrel.

The Oman/Dubai benchmark is used by Saudi Aramco as a basis for setting its monthly official selling prices (OSPs) for Asian refiners, which buy about two-thirds of the cargoes from the world's largest crude exporter. In effect what Unipec appears to be trying to do is limit the price increase in Middle East crudes, which have become more expensive relative to grades from the Atlantic Basin in the wake of the additional cuts to output announced by OPEC+ in early April.

The Saudi decision to voluntarily cut another 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of production for July also helped drive the price of Middle East grades higher relative to crude from producers in Africa and the Americas. Unipec would no doubt like to see the Saudis lower their OSPs for August-loading cargoes, after the unexpected increase in OSPs for shipments in July.

Aramco raised the OSP for its benchmark Arab Light grade for refiners in Asia by 45 cents a barrel to a premium of USD3.00 over Oman/Dubai quotes, the highest in six months. The hike surprised refiners, who had tipped in a survey ahead of the June 5 announcement that Aramco would cut the OSP for Arab Light by more than USD1 a barrel.

We remind, Russia's energy ministry said it sees no shortage of gasoline in the domestic market, with companies having cut their exports and increased production after gradually completing planned maintenance work. The ministry also said some refineries have not yet completed repairs, and oil companies are following government recommendations to systematically reduce exports. As a result, in June, gasoline exports fell 30% from May. The ministry continues to recommend that companies adhere to the policy to curb exports.

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Oil prices steadied on Thursday, a day after rising sharply on a bigger-than-expected fall in U.S. inventories, as attention shifted back to rising interest rates denting global economic growth, said Reuters.

Brent crude futures was up 10 cents, or 0.1%, to USD74.13 a barrel by 1032 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 11 cents, or 0.2%, to USD69.67 a barrel.

Both benchmarks gained about 3% on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude inventories dropped by 9.6 million barrels in the week ended June 23, far exceeding the 1.8-million barrel draw analysts had forecast in a Reuters poll.

"The jury is still out on whether the second part of 2023 will bring with it the long-anticipated decline in inventories. Nonetheless, the impact that stocks have on oil prices was on display yesterday on a smaller scale," PVM Oil analyst Tamas Varga said.

Concerns about the impact that rising interest rates will have on economic growth came back to the fore, however, halting the rally. Leaders of the world's top central banks reaffirmed on Wednesday that they think further policy tightening will be needed to tame stubbornly high inflation but still believe they can achieve that without triggering outright recessions.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell did not rule out further hikes at the central bank's next meeting, while European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde cemented expectations for a ninth consecutive rise in euro zone rates in July.

Adding to pressure, annual profits at industrial firms in China, the world's second-biggest oil consumer, extended a double-digit decline in the first five months as softening demand squeezed margins. "The lack of prospects for fuel demand growth has limited the gain in oil prices, even with supply curbs by oil producers," said Tetsu Emori, CEO of Emori Fund Management Inc.

Facing falling prices, Saudi Arabia this month pledged to sharply cut its output in July, adding to a broader OPEC+ deal to limit supply into 2024. Brent's six-month backwardation reached its lowest since December, but still indicated higher demand for immediate delivery.

We remind, Russia's energy ministry said it sees no shortage of gasoline in the domestic market, with companies having cut their exports and increased production after gradually completing planned maintenance work. The ministry also said some refineries have not yet completed repairs, and oil companies are following government recommendations to systematically reduce exports. As a result, in June, gasoline exports fell 30% from May. The ministry continues to recommend that companies adhere to the policy to curb exports.

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