Neste and Lotte Chemical team up on renewable chemicals and plastics

Neste and South Korean chemical company Lotte Chemical embark on a strategic collaboration to replace fossil resources with renewable raw materials in the manufacturing of chemicals and plastics, said the conpany.

This will enable products and applications with a lower carbon footprint compared to those produced from fossil resources.

The collaboration will see Neste providing renewable Neste RE™, a raw material for chemicals and plastics, that is made from 100% renewable raw materials. Lotte Chemical will use Neste RE at the company’s Korean sites to produce various common types of plastics and chemicals in Lotte Chemical’s broad product portfolio. These plastics and chemicals may be used in multiple applications and in supply chains for various products ranging from packaging to construction and from textiles to electronics. The quality and performance of the end products remain unchanged.

With chemicals and plastics still largely depending on fossil resources, both companies see an urgent need to make a switch to more sustainable alternatives.

“We are looking forward to increasing the share of renewable solutions in collaboration with Lotte Chemical,” says Jeroen Verhoeven, Vice President Value Chain Development for renewable polymers and chemicals at Neste. “Together, we can pave the way to more sustainable supply chains and lower emissions for a wide range of sectors and applications.”

We remind, Neste secures safe and undisrupted operations at its refineries with regularly scheduled maintenance shutdowns, i.e. major turnarounds. At Neste’s refinery in Porvoo, Finland, the preparations for the major turnaround taking place in April-June began on 1 April with shutdowns of process units.


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Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. announced that it has decided to close the phenol plant at its Ichihara Works by no later than fiscal 2026, said the company.

The Mitsui Chemicals Group’s Basic & Green Materials Business Sector, which includes phenol business, is aiming to redefine itself as a sustainable green chemicals business centered around competitive derivatives. As the Group works toward an optimized production setup at our crackers line with demand, it will need to ensure that its derivatives are competitive – a need which prompted the Group to begin restructuring its Basic & Green Materials Business Sector shortly after the 2008 global financial crisis. The Group is now further accelerating its efforts toward this end as part of a second phase of restructuring, which will include the newly announced plant closure.

Mitsui Chemicals currently produces phenol at three locations: Ichihara in Chiba, Takaishi in Osaka and Shanghai in China. Following the launch of phenol production at the Ichihara Works in 1970, Mitsui Chemicals’ phenol business continued to grow, driven by rising demand for key derivatives bisphenol A and phenolic resin.

Since 2022, however, a range of factors have made the business environment more difficult – including falling domestic demand, as well as a drastic oversupply on account of new production facilities launched in China and other parts of Asia. Mitsui Chemicals has responded with a range of rationalization efforts in order to sustain the business, but has now decided that it is no longer feasible to secure the profitability needed to maintain phenol production at its Ichihara Works.

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German chemicals giant BASF, opens new tab said it had agreed to buy natural gas from Chinese gas company ENN Energy Holdings under a 15-year supply contract, said the company.


ENN will supply the fuel to BASF's integrated chemicals complex in Zhanjiang in Guangdong province, BASF said in a brief statement posted on its WeChat platform, without specifying the volume of the deal.

Under the agreement, ENN will invest and build a gas pipeline to supply the BASF plant.

"Natural gas is a key fuel and feedstock for both the construction and operation stage of the Zhanjiang base," Marko Murtonen, general manager of the Guangdong venture was cited as saying.

The 10-billion-euro (USD10.8 billion) chemical complex, BASF's third-largest globally once complete, is due to be fully operational by 2030.

We remind, BASF has broken ground on a methyl glycols (MG) plant at its Verbund site in Zhanjiang, China. The new facility is designed with an annual capacity of 46,000 metric tons and aims to meet the rapidly growing demand for brake fluids in the region. The plant is scheduled to commence operations by the end of 2025.

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Henkel AG & Co. KGaA has completed its previously announced acquisition of Seal for Life, a maker of protective coatings and sealants, from private equity firm Arsenal Capital (New York), said the company.

Terms of the transaction, including purchase price, were not disclosed. Seal for Life recorded sales of about €250 million in 2023.

Arsenal acquired Seal for Life in 2019 and “through seven strategic acquisitions, built a global platform in innovative coating and sealing solutions for both existing and new build infrastructure assets,” the private equity firm said. The company’s products “play a critical role in extending the asset life of aging infrastructure with a focus on sustainable materials,” it added.

Seal for Life’s sales more than doubled during Arsenal’s ownership period, according to Sal Gagliardo, operating partner at Arsenal Capital.

We remind, Henkel and Dometic presented a new sealing solution for window frames in motorhomes, minibuses, and caravans at Henkel's new Inspiration Center Duesseldorf (ICD). This is intended to replace the butyl seals previously used. The window frames are sealed with a polyurethane foam gasket FERMAPOR K31 from Henkel, specially developed for this purpose, to ensure that the windows are tight against the weather.

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Fuel exports via Russian Railways' network fell 12.7% year-on-year in March, the Interfax news agency reported, citing the company's deputy director general Alexei Shilo, as per Reuters.

Russia's fuel production has been hit recently by Ukrainian drone attacks, with around 14% of Russia's primary oil refining capacity knocked out as of the end of March, according to Reuters calculations.

Shilo was also quoted as saying that the total volume of fuel transported by rail dipped 0.5% last month as domestic supplies jumped by more than 9.2% from same month last year.

He added that eastward exports rose in March by 10%, Interfax reported.

We remind, The Russian Industry and Trade Ministry expects manufacturing output could grow at least 5% if current trends persist in 2024, Denis Manturov, deputy prime minister and Russia's industry and trade minister, told reporters. The Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) has said manufacturing sector output grew 7.5% year-on-year in January, accelerating to 13.5% in February. Manufacturing grew 7.5% in 2023.

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