Russian Hyundai plant no longer idle

The St. Petersburg automobile plant belonging to South Korea's Hyundai (Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus LLC) has emerged from a period of downtime, said Interfax.

"Downtime has not been extended. We are engaged in personnel training and equipment maintenance," the company's press service told Interfax. Earlier it was reported that the car plant had suspended vehicle production as of March 1, 2022 due to difficulties with component supplies.

It is expected that the plant will be sold for a symbolic price to the Art-Finance company, which is close to the Avilon dealer holding, which had previously purchased Volkswagen's Russian assets. "Hyundai is currently negotiating with Art-Finance on the details of the transaction," the automaker's statement said.

Meanwhile, Hyundai plans to continue to provide after-sales service and other services to its customers in Russia. The transaction price was not specified in the company's statement. It was approved at a symbolic 140 thousand won, or approximately 10,000 rubles at the current exchange rate, South Korean daily the Chosun Ilbo said.

Art-Finance LLC, mentioned as the buyer of the assets in the Hyundai statement, was registered in Moscow in February 2023. Its main owner is CEO of the Avilon car dealer group, Andrei Pavlovich.

In May 2023, Art-Finance acquired the assets of the Russian representative office of Volkswagen Group Rus LLC, including the local Volkswagen Components and Service LLC, Scania Leasing LLC, Scania Finance LLC and Scania Insurance LLC, which it controlled. VW reported in its financial statements that these assets were sold for 125 million euro. Later, the legal entities were renamed in a rebranding campaign to create an automobile group from the newly acquired companies called AGR.

Kaliningrad's Avtotor was also interested in Hyundai's Russian assets at one point, including its car plant in St. Petersburg. After ending cooperation with its own South Korean partner and German BMW, Avtotor is now developing cooperation with Chinese brands BAIC, Kaiyi, and SWM in its home region.

The Hyundai plant has been operating in St. Petersburg since 2010. Production of cars there was suspended as of March 2022 due to difficulties with the supply of components. Until the spring of 2022, the enterprise, with a capacity of more than 200,000 cars per year, produced the Hyundai Solaris, Hyundai Creta, Kia Rio and Kia Rio X-Line models. At the end of 2022, the company saw revenues decrease 75.6% to 50.3 billion rubles, and had an 18.8 billion ruble net loss against 11.2 billion rubles of net profit the year before.

We remind, sales of new passenger cars in Russia in 2023 increased 69% YoY on last year's low base to 1.06 million units, Interfax reported, citing data from JSC Passport Industrial Consulting, which is a joint venture of the agency and the JSC Electronic Passport manufacturer's certificate of origin operator. The statistics include data for sales of car brands on the official market as well as parallel imports, which made up nearly 15% of the market for the entirety of last year.

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Sales of new passenger cars in Russia in 2023 increased 69% YoY on last year's low base to 1.06 million units, Interfax reported, citing data from JSC Passport Industrial Consulting, which is a joint venture of the agency and the JSC Electronic Passport manufacturer's certificate of origin operator.

The statistics include data for sales of car brands on the official market as well as parallel imports, which made up nearly 15% of the market for the entirety of last year.

In December last year, 119,454 cars were sold in Russia, which is a 2.1-fold increase YoY and 8.9% more than in November 2023.

We remind, Novatek has received Russian patents for large-capacity technologies for the production of low-carbon ammonia and ammonia cracking with pure hydrogen. The production technology of low-carbon ammonia was developed by Novatekom in collaboration with Russian design institutes and is based on the method of steam reforming of natural gas.

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Lummus Technology announced a major investment in Resynergi, a pioneering leader in plastic recycling technology, to scale production of Resynergi's modular Continuous Microwave Assisted Pyrolysis (CMAP) technology, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

CMAP converts plastic waste into reusable materials at a rate 20 times faster than traditional pyrolysis methods. Lummus' President and Chief Executive Officer, Leon de Bruyn, will also join Resynergi's board of directors.

"Lummus' is not only investing in Resynergi, we are partnering with true innovators to develop and scale sustainable solutions that advance the circular economy," said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. "Combining our global licensing expertise with Resynergi's proven CMAP technology will help us accelerate the conversion of plastic waste into high-quality, reusable material. I also look forward to collaborating with Resynergi's team and the board of directors to help reduce the carbon footprint of conventional plastics production and meet the growing demand for recycled plastics."

"The investment from Lummus, along with their global licensing expertise, will allow us to scale our innovative recycling technology and collectively reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by addressing plastic waste and accelerate plastic circularity," said Resynergi Chief Executive Officer Brian Bauer.

With an estimated 70% growth in plastic waste by 2050, Resynergi's modular CMAP technology is positioned to scale waste conversion creating positive social and environmental impact.

We remind, Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, and Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (“Toshiba”) announced a master collaboration agreement to jointly pursue carbon capture projects. Lummus will provide its post-combustion carbon capture technology and Toshiba will provide its advanced amine-based solvents specifically tailored for post-combustion carbon capture and its system design guidelines optimized for Toshiba’s solvents.

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MAIRE announces that NEXTCHEM, through its subsidiary NextChem Tech, thanks to its expertise in chemistry and electrochemistry, has launched a new model for “e-Factory for carbon-neutral Chemistry”, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This model is powered by the signature of a cooperation agreement with newcleo to develop, on an exclusive basis, a conceptual study for carbon-neutral hydrogen production thanks to an innovative clean and safe nuclear technology.

Additionally, Tecnimont (Integrated E&C Solutions BU) will provide high-level consultancy services for newcleo’s plan for the implementation of an innovative power plant based on newcleo’s LFR-AS-200 technology, a Small Modular Lead-cooled Fast Reactor fueled with MOX fuel thanks to Tecnimont’s state-of-the-art modularization approach to optimize construction and planning methodology, reducing time and costs.

This approach will enable the production of electrolytic hydrogen and sustainable chemicals including carbon-neutral ammonia, methanol, e-fuels and derivatives, in line with the recent European Union’s decision to include innovative Gen-IV nuclear technology like the newcleo one within the perimeter of EU Taxonomy of environmentally sustainable economic activities.

Alessandro Bernini, MAIRE CEO, commented: “With this agreement, MAIRE confirms its commitment to foster decarbonization and green chemistry through a wide range of technological solutions. By creating carbon-neutral chemistry models based on safe, reliable and competitive energy supply, we will accelerate the industrialization of the energy transition.

We remind, MAIRE announces that NEXTCHEM, through its biodegradable plastics technology licensor CONSER, has been awarded technology licensing and catalyst supply by a prominent client, as part of a larger project located in Northwestern China, said the company. The scope of work entails licensing, process design package for CONSER proprietary Duetto technology and technical assistance during project execution, up to commissioning and start-up. As part of the agreement, CONSER will also supply the hydrogenation catalyst.

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Galymzhan Zhusanbayev has been appointed general director of Kazakhstan's Atyrau Refinery LLP, said Interfax.

Zhusanbayev replaced Murat Dosmuratov, who had held the post since July 2022 but resigned.

Zhusanbayev earlier worked at SAT Operating Aktau LLP, Shymkent Munai Onimderi JSC and Petro Export LLP.

Atyrau is one of the three largest oil refineries in Kazakhstan. Atyrau Refinery LLP is owned by KazMunayGas with 99%. The design capacity of the refinery is 5.5 million tonnes a year with refining depth of up to 86.4%.

We remind, KazMunayGas (KMG) and China Gezhouba Group Company Limited (CGGC) could build gas processing plant at the Urikhtau field in Kazakhstan's Aktobe region. KMG Deputy CEO Serikkali Brekeshev held a meeting with CGGC Vice President Yinqi Deng at which they discussed prospects for cooperation in KMG's projects, KMG said in a press release.

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