Adani to go ahead with USD50 billion hydrogen project with or without TotalEnergies

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Billionaire Gautam Adani's group is prepared to go ahead alone on the $50 billion green hydrogen project after its French partner, TotalEnergies SE, put investment in the venture on hold following allegations of fraud, as per Deccanherald.

Adani group CFO Robbie Singh in an investor call on first-quarter earnings of Adani Enterprises Ltd last week stated that the project is not dependent on the equity from TotalEnergies and the group is going ahead with the investment with or without the French giant.

TotalEnergies had last year agreed to take a 25 per cent stake in Adani New Industries Ltd (ANIL), which is building the green hydrogen project. The French energy giant in February paused the planned $4 billion investment pending an investigation into a US short seller's allegations of accounting and stock manipulation, which Adani denies. 'The project is not dependent on that equity as we are going ahead with the project as it is and at the same pace,' Singh said, according to a transcript of the investor call.

We remind, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani called on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on Saturday following the full load commencement of power supply to Bangladesh from the Group’s Ultra Super-Critical Thermal Power Plant in Godda, India. The Godda USCTPP, which marks the Adani Group’s entry into transnational power projects, is India’s first commissioned transnational power project where 100% of the generated power is supplied to another nation.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Azelis Group NV, a leading global innovation service provider in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients industry, announces that Todd Cottrell will assume the role of CEO of Azelis Americas when Frank Bergonzi retires on September 30, 2023, said the company.

To ensure a seamless transition, Frank will support Todd with onboarding into his new role, and subsequently will remain available as a consultant to contribute to Azelis’ growth strategy in the Americas through the end of 2025.

Todd brings more than 30 years of expertise and industry knowledge that span both technical and executive roles. He has worked for some of the global leaders in the CASE (coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers) industry, his last position having been Managing Director Americas for a large European manufacturer. Over his extensive career, Todd also served in regional director and regional president roles in France and China, as well as multiple industry board positions. Todd holds BSc in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technological University and an MBA from Duke University, both in the USA.

As CEO of Azelis Americas, Todd will be responsible for driving growth through the development of principal partnerships, market expansion, both organic and inorganic, operational excellence within all market segments, and digital, innovation, and sustainability strategies that drive value for our principals and customers.

Frank, who has led Azelis in the Americas for over seven years, first as CEO & President of KODA Distribution, and afterward as CEO of Azelis Americas following the Group’s acquisition of KODA in 2015, has decided to retire after a 40-year career. During his tenure in Azelis, Frank has led the Americas region to record growth, both organically and through M&A. Azelis Americas has seen both new market segment additions as well as geographical expansion in this period. The business has become the leading innovation service provider for the specialty chemicals and food ingredients industry in the Americas, growing from USD725 million in revenue at the end of 2015 to $1.7 billion in 2022. Seven acquisitions have been completed in the Americas since 2015, and the footprint has grown from the US and Canada to Latin America.

We remind, Azelis, a leading global innovation service provider in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients industry, announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Gillco Ingredients (“Gillco”), a leading specialty ingredient provider in the food & nutrition market in the USA.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Occidental Petroleum’s carbon capture, utilisation and sequestration (CCUS) subsidiary, 1PointFive, has been selected to receive a grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) for the development of its South Texas Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hub in Kleberg county, south of Corpus Christi, said the company.

The hub is expected to include the world’s first DAC plant designed to remove up to 1m tonnes/year of carbon dioxide (CO2). The funding by the DOE's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations will support the development of the DAC hub, Occidental said on Friday without disclosing financial details.

“We believe this selection validates our readiness, technical maturity and the ability to use Oxy’s expertise in large projects and carbon management to move the technology forward so it can reach its full potential,” said Occidental's CEO, Vicki Hollub.

1PointFive, along with Canada's Carbon Engineering and international energy and chemicals engineer Worley, is working on the front-end engineering and design for the first DAC plant at the south Texas Hub.

The DAC plant’s design is being adapted from the “Stratos” project, which is 1PointFive’s first commercial-scale DAC plant under construction in the Permian Basin in west Texas.

1PointFive’s lease agreement for the South Texas DAC Hub covers about 106,000 acres of pore space, estimated to accommodate up to 3bn tonnes of CO2 in saline formations.

The company estimates that the hub has the potential to remove and store up to 30m tonnes/year of CO2 through DAC.

The property is located near industrial emitters on the Texas Gulf Coast, where CO2 also can be captured, transported and sequestered at the hub.

We remind, Occidental said its subsidiary 1PointFive will acquire all the outstanding equity of Canada's Carbon Engineering Ltd. The cash deal will total approximately USD1.1bn, to be made in three annual payments. Occidental has been working with Carbon Engineering on direct air capture (DAC) deployment since 2019.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Eastman global specialty materials company announced Advantis, its newest adhesion promoters to limit or remove materials of concern, said Coatingsworld.

The new adhesion promoters are compliant with regulatory changes and allows formulators and end users to deliver dependable results while improving sustainability.

“With materials like cumene being recategorized, formulators have two choices – to continue to use these materials with their new hazardous labeling, or switch to solutions that limit or remove these materials,” said Tom Klug, Eastman’s automotive coatings business market manager. “Eastman’s Advantis adhesion promoters offer a simple alternative to help our customers remain compliant without the need for reformulation.”

Advantis products consist of polyethylene polymers and modified polypropylene that adhere to difficult to bond to surfaces such as untreated plastics.

Eastman’s coatings business technology director, Doug Wagner commented, “Advantis solutions improve adhesion in three ways – as a primer between the substrate and subsequent coating, as a primer or tie coat between layers and as a stir-in formulation additive.”

The new adhesion promoters were developed as an effortless drop-in alternative to formulations that use traditional Eastman adhesion promoters. Technical specialists can help provide the right Advantis solution for those using non-Eastman products.

“Formulators tell us that reclassification of materials is a major trend across our industry, so we developed these new products as drop-in alternatives to formulations benefiting form our traditional promoters,” Wagner added. “One immediate challenge faced by formulators is the upcoming EU reclassification of cumene as carcinogenic category 1B. Our Advantis adhesion promoters are a solution that enables customers to avoid relabeling concerns of their current coatings products.”

Advantis adhesion promoters are commercially available as solutions, solid resins, and water-based dispersions.

We remind, Eastman Chemical Company reported second-quarter net earnings of USD272 million, 5.8% higher year over year. However, adjusted earnings totaled USD1.99 per share, down 29.7% from the year-ago quarter but slightly ahead of the analysts’ consensus estimate of USD1.95 per share. Sales declined 16.5% year over year, to USD2.3 billion, on weak primary demand and customer destocking across consumer durables, building and construction, agriculture, and medical.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- AdvanSix’s Q2 net income and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell sharply year on year as sales fell nearly 27%, the US-based integrated nylon 6 producer reported.

The adjusted EBITDA margin fell to 15.4%, from 18.1% in Q2 2022.

Market-based pricing was unfavourable by 19% compared with Q2 2022, reflecting lower nutrient values reducing ammonium sulphate pricing, as well as lower nylon pricing.

Raw material pass-through pricing was unfavourable by 6% following a net cost decrease in benzene and propylene, both inputs to cumene which, in turn, is a key feedstock for AdvanSix’s products.

Sales volume fell about 2%, driven by soft end market demand impacting portions of the company’s nylon and chemical intermediates product lines.

The volume decline was partially offset by higher domestic ammonium sulphate volume to meet strong in-season customer demand.

We remind, AdvanSix, a diversified chemistry company, announced on 7 Jun 2023 a new nylon offering with 100% post-consumer recycled content, providing a circular solution to help customers meet sustainability goals and create a variety of products, from home office furniture and durable packaging to fast, fuel-efficient cars.

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