Trinseo announces price decrease for polystyrene in Europe

Trinseo, a specialty material solutions provider, and its affiliate companies in Europe, announced today a price decrease for all polystyrene (PS) grades. Effective November 1, 2023, or depending on existing contract terms, said the company.

The prices for the products listed below will decrease as follows:

STYRON™ and STYRON™ X-TECH general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) by -125 Euro per metric ton
STYRON™ and STYRON A-TECH™, STYRON C-TECH™ and STYRON X- TECH™ high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) by -125 Euro per metric ton.

We remind, Trinseo, a specialty material solutions provider, today announced its decision to discontinue operations at its ethylbenzene styrene monomer (EBSM) manufacturing facility in Terneuzen, the Netherlands. This decision was made following the completion of joint negotiations with the Works Council in Terneuzen. The plant is scheduled to officially cease operations in November 2023. With the closure of the EBSM facility, the company will purchase of all of its styrene needs from third party suppliers to support its downstream businesses.

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Borealis is collaborating with the University of Helsinki, Finland, as well as several other academic and industry partners, on a co-research project focusing on direct carbon dioxide (CO2) capture from the air, said the company.

This project is part of the Business Finland-funded SPIRIT Program (Sustainable Plastics Industry Transformation). Co-founded by Borealis, the program seeks to bring about a circular and net-zero transformation of the plastics value chain.

The two-year project, titled “Direct and reversible CO2 capture from air using superbases” stands at the convergence of societal and scientific interests. As global efforts to avert the worst consequences of climate change intensify, there is a pressing need to reduce levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, including through direct capture from the air.

For the plastics industry, CO2 capture is crucial to efforts to become carbon-neutral or even carbon negative. While there are existing commercial technologies, they fall short in terms of energy efficiency and are also primarily designed to capture CO2 from concentrated sources such as industrial plants, rather than from the air. The project team aims to address these gaps, exploring how CO2 can be reacted with strong organic bases to establish more effective techniques for direct and reversible capture from the air and, ultimately, assessing the potential for scaling the technology.

If successful, the project could provide a further benefit, beyond reducing atmospheric carbon: the chemicals industry requires carbon for the synthesis of many chemicals; atmospheric carbon could help the industry to move away from fossil-based sources. This perfectly aligns with approach which sets out an integrated approach to decoupling the making of plastic from fossil-fuels through protecting and retaining precious carbon in the system.

Asset Transformation Manager Mikko Ronka from Borealis says: “Securing competitive and sustainable feedstock is vital for the future of chemicals production. Novel CO2 capture opens endless possibilities for our industry and is fully in line with our overall ambition of reinventing essentials for sustainable living.”

We remind, Borealis announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire Rialti S.p.A., a polypropylene (PP) compounder of recyclates based in the Varese area of Italy, subject to regulatory approvals. Today, the parties announce the successful closing of the transaction.

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ExxonMobil has closed its $4.9bn acquisition of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) firm Denbury, said Reuters.

Denbury shareholders are to receive $89.45 per share, based on ExxonMobil’s stock closing price on 12 July 2023. Under the terms of the agreement, Denbury shareholders will receive 0.84 shares of ExxonMobil for each Denbury share.

With the acquisition, ExxonMobil will now operate a 1,300-mile CO2 pipeline network of 1,300 miles, including nearly 925 miles of CO2 pipelines in the US states of Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. The company will also now have access to more than 15 onshore CO2 storage sites.

The acquisition also includes Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain oil and natural gas operations, consisting of proved reserves totalling more than 200m bbl of oil equivalent as of 31 December 2022. Current production of those assets stands at 46,000 oil-equivalent bbl/day of current production.

"Once fully developed and optimised, the combination of these assets and capabilities has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 100m tonnes/year," said ExxonMobil.

We remind, Exxon Mobil Corp posted a sharply lower USD9.1 billion third-quarter profit, missing analysts’ estimates for the second quarter in a row, and off 54% from a year ago. Earnings by the largest U.S. oil producer have benefited from higher crude oil prices compared to the previous quarter and greater demand for gasoline and diesel, but prices are well off record year-ago levels.

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Plastics Europe, the pan-European plastics manufacturers association of which Borealis is a member, has launched , a roadmap for the circular and net zero transformation of Europe’s plastics system, said the company.

Centered around three core pillars — material circularity, net-zero emissions, and the sustainable use of plastics - it sets out a whole-value-chain approach to effecting systemic change.

The roadmap projects that the substitution of fossil-based plastics could reach 25% in 2030 and 65% by 2050, while efforts to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions could achieve a reduction of 28% by 2030 and towards?net zero carbon?by 2050.

Well aligned with Borealis’ own ambitious , the roadmap sets a clear course for accelerating the transformation of the industry.

We remind, Borealis announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire Rialti S.p.A., a polypropylene (PP) compounder of recyclates based in the Varese area of Italy, subject to regulatory approvals. Today, the parties announce the successful closing of the transaction.

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Orbia’s Fluorinated Solutions business and Solvay have signed their joint venture agreement to create the largest polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) production facilities for battery materials in the North America region, said the company.

This partnership brings security of supply with Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) compliant materials and leading-edge PVDF technology together for solutions that are critical to the North American electric vehicle (EV) transition.

With significant expected growth of the U.S. EV and stationary energy storage market, demand for lithium-ion batteries will grow considerably and necessitate a robust, secure and local supply chain. The Orbia-Solvay partnership secures supply of critical minerals and intermediate materials from Orbia, from which Solvay will manufacture suspension-grade PVDF: a lithium-ion binder and separator coating in electric vehicle batteries. Solvay brings process technology and global market know-how to this venture. In combination, Solvay’s Solef® PVDF innovations and Orbia’s material assets and production expertise will enable delivery of PVDF that allows electric vehicles to go further on each charge, extends battery life and improves battery safety in turn.

Said Ilham Kadri, CEO of Solvay, "We are proud of this important project, which is a key milestone in our electrification strategy, emphasizing our global commitment to sustainable mobility. Our partnership with Orbia puts us in the driving seat to shore up an independent, sustainable EV battery supply chain in North America and create clean energy jobs."

"Our partnership with Solvay underscores our continued commitment to enabling the clean energy transition with our investments in energy materials. Orbia has a unique 'mine-to-market' position with integration in key battery materials needed to bolster North America's EV supply chain and be IRA- compliant," said Sameer Bharadwaj, CEO of Orbia.

Orbia and Solvay intend to use two production sites: one in Augusta, Georgia for finished products and one in St. Gabriel, Louisiana for raw material conversion to needed intermediates. Both plants are expected to be operational in 2026.

The company’s participation in this joint venture contributes to the company’s overall strategic position as a key supplier of battery materials, including electrolyte salts such as LiPF6, custom electrolyte formulations, specialty battery additives and recycled anodes.

We remind, Solvay, a global leader in the soda ash market, and Vancouver Bulk Terminal, a bulk commodity shipping and logistics expert, announced today a strategic partnership to collaborate on the redevelopment of Terminal 2, Berth 7 at the Port of Vancouver USA, in Washington state.

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