Celanese to close engineered materials site in Belgium

Celanese plans to close an Engineered Materials compounding site at Mechelen, Belgium that was part of its USD11 billion acquisition of DuPont’s Mobility & Materials business in 2022, said the company.

The closure would help optimize production costs across Celanese’s global network, it said in a financial filing.

Manufacturing operations at Mechelen are expected to permanently cease by the end of September 2024, subject to a consultation process with works council and union representatives that started this week.

The closure is expected to result in expenses of about USD60-75 million, consisting primarily of accelerated depreciation of fixed asset costs and facility-related shutdown cash costs.

Not included are employee termination costs, which will be subject to the works council consultation, Celanese said, adding that is currently unable to provide a reasonable estimate of these costs.

The business Celanese acquired from DuPont produces engineering thermoplastics and elastomers, for end-use in automotive, electrical and electronics, consumer goods and industrial applications.

We remind, Celanese will idle eight units in its Engineered Materials segment, while running many other plants at reduced rates. Celanese did not specify which units it will idle, what products they make or how long they will remain down. Out of the idled plants, six are in Mobility & Materials (M&M), a business that Celanese acquired from DuPont. The remaining two predated the M&M acquisition.

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The diversified agricultural company DCM Shriram plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore in the next few years to build a greenfield plant that will produce epoxy resin.

The Board of the company has given its chemical division permission to invest in epoxy and other value-added products as a means of expanding into advanced materials. Furthermore, their epichlorohydrin (ECH) factory in Jhagadia, Gujarat, is almost finished and should be active in the first quarter of the 2024–2025 fiscal year.

With essential raw materials like caustic and ECH already in its inventory, the company is well-positioned to penetrate the market for value-added and epoxy products. The company is already well-known in a number of industries, such as value-added (fenesta building systems-UPVC windows & doors), agri-rural, and chloro-vinyl.

Additionally, the extensive line of advanced materials products, which includes solvent cuts, hardeners, formulated resins, liquid epoxy resins, and reactive diluents, is ready to serve a variety of industries, including electronics, wind-blades, electric vehicles (EVs), electronics, fire-proofing, and lightweighting.

We remind, Shriram Fertilizers & Chemicals (SFC), a unit of DCM Shriram Ltd. and the third largest chlor-alkali producer in India, will use Topsoe’s ClearView solution for digitalizing its ammonia plant. The digital platform was operational in early 2022.

DCM Shriram Ltd is a diversified Indian conglomerate whose business portfolio spans across multiple sectors including Agri-business – Urea, Sugar, Ethanol, Farm Solution Business covering the entire range of inputs, R&D based Hybrid Seeds. Chlor-Vinyl Business – Caustic Soda, Chlorine, Aluminum Chloride, Calcium Carbide, PVC Resins, PVC Compounds, Power and Cement. And Value Added Business Fenesta Building Systems makes UPVC and Aluminium Windows & Doors. Chemicals is one of the company’s largest businesses and is expected to continue as one of the key growth drivers for the company, it said.

Furthermore, the company board of directors have inter-alia declared an interim dividend for the financial year 2023-24 on the paid-up equity share capital of the company, at 200 per cent (Rs 4 per equity share of face value of Rs 2 each). The record date fixed for the purpose of the said interim dividend shall be March 6, 2024.

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LyondellBasell, the world’s largest licensor of polyolefin technologies, today announced that Inner Mongolia Rongxin Co., Ltd. (Inner Mongolia Rongxin), will use the LyondellBasell Spheripol and Hostalen Advanced Cascade Process (Hostalen ACP) technologies for its new facility, said the company.

The process technology will be used for a 500 kilotons per annum (KTA) Spheripol polypropylene plant and a 400 KTA Hostalen ACP high-density polyethylene plant, to be built in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, P.R. China.

“Inner Mongolia Rongxin has selected a process enabling them to produce differentiated polyolefins which includes amongst others durable goods and infrastructure material,” said Patrik Schneider, LyondellBasell senior director of licensing. Schneider added: “Having the right technology makes the differences for operators to deliver favorable results in a more selective market environment”.

Mr. Hu Yun, General Manager of Inner Mongolia Rongxin said, “Trust and confidence was a key consideration when selecting technology from the market leader in polyolefin technology. We are excited to implement this project and looking forward to foster our relationship with LyondellBasell”.

Spheripol technology is the leading polypropylene (PP) process technology with more than 35 million tons of licensed capacity. The latest fifth generation Spheripol technology includes process improvements that further maximize operational efficiency. The plant will commence operations using Avant ZN catalyst.

The Hostalen ACP process technology manufactures high performance, multi-modal HDPE resins with an industry-leading stiffness/toughness balance, impact resistance, high stress cracking resistance and process advantages used in pressure pipe, film and blow molding applications. The Hostalen ACP plant will commence operations using Avant Z501 and Avant Z509-1 catalysts to produce a full range of multi-modal HDPE products.

New licensees have the option of joining LyondellBasell’s Technical Service Program. Through this program, they can benefit from LyondellBasell’s in-house expertise of continuous production improvement, sustainable product development and catalyst.

We remind, Emerson has been selected by multinational chemical company LyondellBasell to modernize control systems and software at its Wesseling complex in Germany. The implementation of advanced automation technology will help to enhance operation of an ethylene cracker and butadiene production plant. Emerson digital tools and project engineering services will help to ensure a smooth transition during the planned plant shutdown in 2024.

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KazTransOil's consolidated 2023 IFRS net profit totaled 32.845 billion tenge, which is a 70% increase versus 2022, the company's consolidated financial statements said, as per Interfax.

Consolidated revenue increased 13.6% to 290.385 billion tenge. Gross profit increased 14.7% to 41.527 billion tenge, operating profit grew 2.5-fold to 19.121 billion tenge, and pre-tax profit increased 60% to 39.889 billion tenge.

Assets increased 10% during the year to 1.358 trillion tenge. Liabilities increased 24.3% to 401.511 billion tenge.

JSC KazTransOil is a Kazakh operator of main oil pipelines, and is part of the KazMunayGas group. It owns a 5,400 km-long pipeline network.

The official exchange rate as of March 7 is 447.52 tenge/$1.

We remind, KazMunayGas (KMG) plans to purchase services for organizing charter flights for a period of 5 years through 2028. KMG's purchase of Charter flight organization services is for a 5-year period from 2024 to 2028," KMG said.

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BASF has strengthened its partnership with OQEMA, one of Europe’s leading chemical distributors, with regard to BASF’s standard amines portfolio excluding ethanolamines in the UK and Ireland, effective January 1, 2024, said the company.

The companies, which have enjoyed a productive partnership in Germany and Eastern Europe for over two decades, will now join forces in the UK, combining OQEMA’s extensive distribution and sales network and in-depth local market knowledge with BASF’s ability to deliver high-quality, competitively priced products at scale.

“We are thrilled about the expanded partnership with our long-standing partner BASF in the UK. This new venture provides us with an opportunity for joint growth, allows us to offer our customers an extended product portfolio in amines, and strengthens our market position,” said Tobias Hinz, Head of Technical Applications, OQEMA GmbH.

Kristina Yeates, Director Sales Standard Amines Europe, BASF, added, “Broadening our regional scope by adding the UK and Ireland will support our collective goal to grow in the coming years by leveraging our mutual strengths. Our partnership with OQEMA allows us to manage supply chain complexities and customer service and enables us to focus on our core competencies. Having worked with OQEMA in various countries over two decades, I am convinced that this enhanced level of cooperation will open up numerous business opportunities for BASF’s standard amines portfolio and beyond.”

BASF’s Intermediates division develops, produces and markets a comprehensive portfolio of more than 600 intermediates globally. The division’s key product groups include amines, diols, polyalcohols, acids and specialties. These intermediates are used as precursors for coatings, plastics, pharmaceuticals, textiles, detergents and crop protectants. Innovative intermediates from BASF help to improve both the properties of final products and the efficiency of production processes. The ISO 9001 certified Intermediates division operates plants at production sites in Europe, Asia and North America.

We remind, one year after BASF’s Monomers division announced its ambitious sustainability roadmap, it is now celebrating the successful certification of production sites in all regions. With its MDI production site in Geismar, Louisiana, USA, joining the ranks of ISCC PLUS and REDcert2-certified locations1, BASF can now offer its customers regionally produced ISCC PLUS and/or REDcert2 certified isocyanates and polyamides all over the world.


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