Denmark's Carlsberg receives around USD320 mln in deal to sell Baltika

Carlsberg Group has received DKK 2.3 billion, or approximately $320 million, in a cash consideration for the sale of the Baltika brewery, the Danish company said in its 2024 financial report, as per Interfax.

Carlsberg Group closed the deal to sell the Russia-based business at the end of last year.

"As part of the agreement, the parties settled all outstanding legal disputes, including issues related to intellectual property rights. In doing so, Carlsberg received a cash consideration of approximately DKK 2.3 billion and retained 100% ownership of Carlsberg Kazakhstan and Carlsberg Azerbaijan," the group said.

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Momentum is building for renewable hydrogen projects in Europe, despite recent high-profile cancellations and setbacks, as state-backed subsidy support auctions and end-user mandates underpin final investment decisions, as per Chemweek.

More plants have reached positive FIDs than have been scrapped, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed, though the share of announced projects to progress to FID remains small. Experts attribute project failures to natural attrition in the nascent clean hydrogen sector.

“In a sense, I am not surprised by what I see in the marketplace,” Energy Transitions Commission Chair Adair Turner told Commodity Insights. The ETC sees slow growth in low-carbon hydrogen to 2030, with a more rapid ramp-up in 2030-40, Turner said in an interview.

Despite jitters from late 2024 project cancellations, the industry is poised at a critical threshold, with policy frameworks and funding taking firmer shape.

Over 3 GW of electrolysis capacity has passed FID in Europe, to produce 415,000 mt/year of renewable hydrogen, according to Commodity Insights data, compared with 2 GW of cancellations.

Carbon capture-enabled hydrogen projects have fared less well, with 1.5 million mt/year of cancellations overshadowing 400,000 mt/year of FIDs.

But advanced-stage projects including FID total 3.8 million mt/year across renewable and low-carbon projects, with 2.4 million mt/year from blue hydrogen.

Data analyzed by European law firm Fieldfisher, including from Pitchbook Data, identifies $1.13 billion in low-carbon hydrogen investments in Europe in 2024, up from $550 million in 2023.

The EU is paving the way with grant support. Its first European Hydrogen Bank subsidy auction, awarded in 2024 at 37-48 euro cents/kg, will support 1.5 GW of electrolysis across six projects based in the low-cost renewable generation regions of the Nordics and Iberia.

The second auction, with a budget of up to Eur1.2 billion ($1.26 billion) and a price ceiling of Eur4/kg, closes Feb. 20.

In the UK, the government has awarded the first contracts under its debut hydrogen allocation round (HAR1), with the remaining winning project awards under the 125-MW round expected in the coming weeks.

The UK will also support the country’s first two blue hydrogen plants through its Track 1 industrial cluster decarbonization program.

The bilaterally negotiated strike prices for HAR1 have proved more expensive per kilogram, with an average strike price of GBP9.50/kg.

Industry representatives said each approach has its benefits and limitations but pointed to both being “investable.”

The following three to six months will be crucial for the industry in the UK, Hydrogen UK Chief Executive Clare Jackson told Commodity Insights.

“What we saw in 2024 was perhaps not the pace we would have liked,” Jackson said in a January interview. “We need to see an acceleration in the pace, both for the hydrogen allocation rounds and the Track CCUS cluster process, but also in terms of infrastructure as well.”

Jackson cautioned that more funding than the GBP22 billion already allocated over 25 years for three Track 1 projects offered grants plus the associated CO2 infrastructure would be needed for the remaining Track 1 projects, the Track 1 extension and Track 2.

She said blue hydrogen production would dominate through to 2030, with green production gaining prominence thereafter, driven by the Labour government’s clean power 2030 plans.

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Asahi Kasei Corp. will absorb subsidiary Asahi Kasei Epoxy Co., Ltd., through an absorption-type merger with an effective date scheduled for April 1, 2026, as per Chemweek.

Asahi Kasei Epoxy was established in 1966 as Asahi-Ciba Ltd. for the manufacture of epoxy resins. It subsequently began manufacturing epoxy curing agents as well as epoxy resins and became a subsidiary and its name was changed to Asahi Kasei Epoxy in 2000.

To streamline operation of the business, Asahi Kasei has decided to absorb Asahi Kasei Epoxy.
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Last week, styrene monomer prices declined in Southeast Asia while quoting flat in other parts of the Asian region, as per Polymerupdate.

An industry source in Asia on condition of anonymity informed a Polymerupdate team member, “Market activity remained slow throughout the week as most buyers were away on national holidays. Bearish benzene feedstock values also supported the price downtrend.”

On Friday, CFR South East Asia SM prices were assessed at the USD 1080-1090/mt levels, a drop of USD (-10/mt) from last week.

Meanwhile, CFR Japan SM prices were assessed at the USD 1060-1070/mt levels while CFR China SM prices were assessed at the USD 1060-1070/mt levels, both unchanged week on week.

FOB Korea SM prices were assessed flat at the USD 1060-1070/mt levels.

CFR India SM prices were assessed at the USD 1100-1110/mt levels while CFR Taiwan SM prices were assessed at the USD 1090-1100/mt levels, both steady from the previous week.

Benzene feedstock prices on Friday were assessed at the USD 900-910/mt FOB Korea levels, a week on week decrease of USD (-10/mt).

We remind, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA, Brussels, Belgium) has recognized styrene as non-toxic. According to a scientific study commissioned by the European Commission, materials made from styrene polymers do not pose a threat to human health when in contact with food.

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LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's leading chemical firm, said Monday it shifted to a net loss in the fourth quarter from a year earlier due to lower demand for petrochemical and battery materials products, as per Koreaherald.

LG Chem swung to a net loss of 899.2 billion won (US$613.3 million) in the three months ended in December from a net profit of 128.5 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing.

"A down cycle in the mainstay petrochemical industry and a lower demand for battery materials amid the electric vehicle (EV) chasm cut into the quarterly bottom line," a company spokesperson said over the phone.

LG Chem has an 81.84 percent stake in LG Energy Solution Ltd., the country's leading battery maker.

The company also shifted to an operating loss of 252 billion won in the December quarter from an operating profit of 247.4 billion won a year ago.

Sales fell 6.1 percent to 12.33 trillion won from 13.13 trillion won over the cited period.

For all of 2024, net income plunged 74.9 percent to 515 billion won from 2.05 trillion won a year ago.

Operating profit plummeted 63.8 percent on-year to 916.79 billion won from 2.52 trillion won. Sales fell 11.5 percent to 48.9 trillion won from 55.2 trillion won.

To ride out a market downturn, LG Chem plans to spend 2 to 3 trillion won in capital expenditure this year, far lower than the 4 trillion-won level announced earlier.

We remind, LG Chem posted a net profit of 1.01 trillion won ($731.2 million) for the third quarter of 2024, up 73.1 percent year-on-year. Operating profit for the July-September period fell 42.1 percent year-on-year to 498.4 billion won. Sales fell 6.1 percent year-on-year to 12.67 trillion won.

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