OMV in talks with ADNOC on chemicals business merger

OMV is actively in negotiations with the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company about a possible merger of their chemicals business, the Austrian firm's chief executive said on Tuesday, after third-quarter results were released.

The company would be listed on the stock exchange, added Chief Executive Alfred Stern.

The deal, if realized, would include a merger of petrochemicals group Borealis - which is owned by OMV and ADNOC in a 75:25 split - and Borouge, which is 54:36 owned by ADNOC and Borealis.

Stern added that he expected a difficult fourth quarter and possibly a difficult first quarter of 2024 for the chemicals business.

We remind, OMV’s polyethylene (PE) indicator margin for Europe stood at €308/tonne in Q3 2023 versus €312/tonne in Q3 2022 and €320/tonne in Q2 2023, said the Austrian oil, gas and petrochemical group. For the polypropylene (PP) indicator margin for Europe, the figures were €330/tonne, €357/tonne and €372/tonne, respectively.
For the propylene indicator margin for Europe, the figures were €330/tonne, €574/tonne and €459/tonne, respectively. For the ethylene indicator margin for Europe, the figures were €455/tonne, €614/tonne and €567/tonne, respectively.

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LyondellBasell, a leader in the chemical industry, today revealed its new brand identity aligned to its purpose, “creating solutions for everyday sustainable living.” The new brand includes a logo, tagline and visual identity and affirms the company’s new strategy announced earlier in 2023, said the company.

“With our new strategy firmly in place, our employees are adopting new ways of working to generate innovative, value-enhancing solutions to support our goals,” said Peter Vanacker, LyondellBasell (LYB) CEO. “I am especially proud of our teams’ recent accomplishments. This includes accelerating our value enhancement program targets and increasing our access to circular and renewable feedstocks through the development of integrated recycling hubs centered in Houston, Texas and Cologne, Germany. I believe our new brand identity will inspire employees by giving them a visual representation of our vision for the future and a sense of unity toward our purpose and values.”

As part of its new brand identity, LYB has also launched a new tagline, “Solutions for a better tomorrow”. This tagline captures the company’s dedication to creating products and solutions for applications in support of modern living, such as food packaging, healthcare, and transportation, and technologies that enable a circular and low carbon economy.

We remind, LyondellBasell, the world’s largest licensor of polyolefin technologies, today announced that Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) has selected LyondellBasell’s Hostalen “Advanced Cascade Process” (Hostalen ACP) technology for a new 200 kiloton per year (KTA) high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant. The new facility will be built in Panipat, India.

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Mitsui Chemical’s fiscal half-year net income fell by 53% year on year as sales volumes dropped due to weak demand, the Japanese producer said.

The company's Basic & Green Materials business swung to an operating loss before special items of Y7.1bn in the H1 period, weighed by lower sales volumes and a decline in inventory valuation gains.
- Sales of polyolefin and phenols decreased compared with the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year due to slowing demand.

Naphtha cracker operating rates remained at a low level due to slowing demand for downstream products.

For the full fiscal year ending 31 March 2024, Mitsui Chemicals lowered its earnings forecasts, with net income expected at Y76bn instead of Y84bn, down from the previous year's Y82.9bn.

Basic & Green Materials sales now expected at Y639bn for the full year, down from the Y726bn in the previous forecast.

We remind, Mitsui Chemicals recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new plant to produce the high-performance elastomer Tafmer at its Singapore-based wholly owned subsidiary Mitsui Elastomers Singapore. The ceremony was held on 28 July, 2023. As part of Mitsui Chemicals’ Vision 2030 Long-Term Business Plan, the Mobility Solutions business aims to help solve social challenges and achieve sustainable business growth by providing unique materials, features and services.

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AkzoNobel supplies bio-based paint to KIA Motors for the inside of its new EV9 electric SUV, said cjmpany.

It is the first time the vehicle manufacturer has specified an interior bio-based coating. Two kinds of bio-rosin (rosin is a solid form of resin) have been used to create the product, one extracted from rapeseed, the other from pine rosin.

The paint can be found on the EV9's interior door switch panels, with AkzoNobel also supplying coatings for the rest of the interior. As well as obtaining 100% colour master approval, the bio-based paint being used on the EV9 also meets all of KIA Motors' requirements for both chemical and physical resistance (against suncream, air freshener, heat and scratches, for example).

We remind, AkzoNobel's net income surged to €189m in the third quarter, supported by a rebound in gross margins in both its core decorative paints and performance coatings businesses, said the company. Q3 revenue 4% down on unfavorable exchange rates. Decorative paints Q3 revenue down 3%, operating income up by 53%. Performance coatings Q3 revenue down 5%, operating income more than doubles to €245m from €98m in the same period of last year.

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Air Products announced it will build, own and operate a state-of-the-art carbon capture and carbon dioxide (CO2) treatment facility at its existing hydrogen production plant in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, said the company.

The facility is expected to be on-stream in 2026, and the resulting "blue" hydrogen product to serve ExxonMobil’s (Esso) Rotterdam refinery and additional customers via Air Products' hydrogen pipeline network system. This will be the largest blue hydrogen plant in Europe once operational.

The carbon capture retrofit will capture CO2 from Air Products' existing hydrogen plant and ExxonMobil’s Rotterdam refinery. The plant will be connected to the Porthos system, a consortium developing the first large-scale CO2 transport and storage system in the Netherlands which recently reached final investment decision approval. Along with CO2 from other industry in the port of Rotterdam, the captured CO2 will be transported to depleted gas fields in the North Sea, approximately 20 kilometers off the coast, where it will be permanently stored at a depth of more than three kilometers beneath the seabed.

Porthos allows Air Products to more than halve its CO2 emissions in the port of Rotterdam. This represents a substantial step for reducing Air Products’ direct emissions in the short term and contributes to meeting the Dutch National Climate Agreement targets. At the same time, Air Products is working hard to further decarbonise its own activities and those of its customers by realising plans to make green hydrogen available from imported renewable energy in the port of Rotterdam.

The project is being undertaken as part of long-term agreements with ExxonMobil and the Dutch State. Blue hydrogen from Air Products’ hydrogen production plant will help customers in industry and mobility transition, whilst also creating and retaining jobs in an important industrial area.

We remind, Air Products announced its commitment to provide its advanced main cryogenic heat exchanger (MCHE) technology for the PETRONAS LNG Complex located in Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. The replacements are part of an extension program being implemented to extend the life and continue the superior performance and high reliability of the MLNG Dua LNG facility in Bintulu. This will be the second and third MCHE replacements provided by Air Products at this facility, after the original units completed almost three decades of reliable service. The first MCHE replacement was installed in June 2022 in-house by PETRONAS and successfully started up in the fall of 2022 and operating reliably ever since.

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