Eight states join EU sanctions against Belarus

Eight European countries have joined the EU sanctions against Belarus endorsed by the Council of the European Union on March 27, 2025, as per Interfax.

"The Council decided that 25 natural persons and seven legal persons should be included in the list of natural and legal persons, entities and bodies subject to restrictive measures," the Council of the European Union said.

"Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway and Ukraine align themselves with this Council decision. They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council decision," it said. "The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it," the Council said.

On March 27, the European Union expanded the list of sanctions against Belarus with 25 individuals and seven legal entities. These include Integral, managing company of the Integral holding (a major microelectronics manufacturer), Planar (a major manufacturer of microelectronics, both civilian and military), and the Precision Electromechanical Plant (part of the Belarusian State Authority for Military Industry, which, according to the EU, produces ballistic missiles). In terms of individuals, the sanctions apply to Planar General Director Sergei Avakov, Precision Electromechanical Plant Director Yury Cherny, members of the Belarusian Central Elections Committee, a number of judges, head of the Belarusian Presidential Property Management Directorate Yury Nazarov and his deputies.

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Trinseo PLC (Berwyn, Pennsylvania) is partnering with MagREEsource (Noyarey, France) to integrate dissolution-based recycling of polycarbonate (PC) with the recycling of rare earth magnets, as per Chemweek.

The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding, according to a press release issued by Trinseo on April 7.

Dissolution is a physical process that does not entail any chemical conversion. Trinseo says its dissolution-based PC recycling technology requires minimal sorting and allows the extraction of PC from all end-of-life products, even mixed or contaminated materials. A pilot plant employing the technology has been online at Trinseo’s site in Terneuzen, Netherlands, since May 2023.

“The extracted PC is recycled into new materials with over 70% cradle-to-gate estimated product carbon footprint reduction compared to its virgin counterpart, while non-PC components, including magnets, remain for further recycling,” Trinseo stated. “This two-stage process is particularly effective for consumer and industrial products made primarily of PC and containing magnetic systems, especially neodymium magnets vital for low-carbon applications such as wind turbines, electric vehicle motors, and automation.”

MagREEsource, a spinoff of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), is commercializing a hydrogenation-based process for the recycling of rare earth magnets. The company’s 50 metric tons per year pilot plant at Noyarey went online in 2024, and MagREEsource intends to begin construction of a 1,000 metric tons per year “MagFactory” in 2026.

“Our collaboration has potential to benefit the value chain as byproducts of Trinseo’s dissolution process could serve as input materials for our process. Byproduct magnets are an important part of supply for our MagFactory” said Erick Petit, president and co-founder of MagREEsource. “Given the European Union’s ambitious sustainability plans, these innovations from MagREEsource and Trinseo contribute to advancing the EU industry’s progress toward sustainability targets by enabling increased material recovery and emissions reduction.”

We remind, Trinseo announced that it has reached agreements to license its technology and transfer polycarbonate production equipment from its plant in Stade, Germany to Deepak, an Indian company. The deal is valued at $52.5 million. The asset sale agreement follows Trinseo’s decision to exit polycarbonate production entirely. The closure is part of a company restructuring program announced by Trinseo on September 30, 2024.

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Brenntag (Essen, Germany) said Gaomi Silver Hawk New Materials Incorporated Co., Ltd. (Gaomi, China) has appointed the company as its distributor for hydroxy ethyl cellulose (HEC) and methyl hydroxy ethyl cellulose (MHEC) to serve the coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE) and construction segments in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, as per Chemweek.

Gaomi Silver Hawk is a leading Chinese manufacturer of cellulose ether, using high-quality cotton pulp as its primary raw material. Through etherification, it produces HEC and MHEC at its advanced facility in Shandong Province.

HEC and MHEC are versatile polymers widely used in applications such as food, pharmaceuticals, personal care and coatings, said Brenntag.

“In addition to ensuring reliable supply, we will harness the technical expertise of our team at our Innovation and Application Center in Mumbai, to provide value-added services, helping our customers optimize performance and achieve their formulation goals,” said Santosh Satam, director CASE APAC, Brenntag Specialties.

We remind, Brenntag (Essen, Germany) faced losses that it could not compensate for even through cost savings. Sales in 2024 fell by 3.4% to €16.24 billion, and EBITDA fell by 12.9% to €1.1 billion. Net profit fell by almost 25% to €536 million.

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Syensqo SA/NV said the production of composite materials, marketed under the ReGen brand, at its Heanor site in the UK has been certified by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS) standard, as per Chemweek.

This certification uses the mass balance approach to verify that sustainable feedstocks are fully traceable throughout the supply chain.

This is the tenth Syensqo site that has been certified since 2023, the company said, adding that the mass balance method allows for the certification of renewable quantities and their allocation to specific products, enabling the gradual replacement of fossil materials in the supply chain.

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Engineering services firm John Wood Group PLC (Aberdeen, UK) said it has indicated to Dar Al-Handasah Consultants Shair and Partners Holdings Ltd. (Sidara) that it would be “minded to recommend” a potential cash offer to its shareholders by Sidara to acquire Wood after the latest round of talks between the two companies, as per Chemweek.

Wood said in an announcement on April 14 that the company’s board had received “a holistic non-binding conditional proposal from Sidara.” The proposal includes a possible offer of 35 pence per Wood share in cash to acquire its entire issued and to be issued share capital, a possible capital injection of $450 million from Sidara to Wood, and the seeking by Wood of an extension of, and certain other amendments to, its existing committed debt facilities, it said.

The capital injection would see an initial payment of $250 million made upon approval by Wood’s shareholders of the offer, followed by a further $200 million conditional upon completion of the offer, it said.

Wood and Sidara resumed talks last month having previously abandoned negotiations in August last year. Sidara had made several proposals to acquire Wood, with the final proposal in May 2024 offering a final price of ?2.30 per share in cash.

Sidara said in a statement within Wood’s announcement that it has made “significant progress with its due diligence on Wood, including in relation to its review of the points raised in the independent review commissioned by Wood.”

Wood said that work is continuing “on a range of alternative refinancing options” to provide it with an appropriate and sustainable long-term capital structure. “Having carefully considered the viability of these options together with its financial advisers, the Board of Wood currently believes that the Possible Offer represents the better option for Wood’s shareholders, creditors and other stakeholders,” it said.

On March 31, Wood announced an update on an independent review being conducted by Deloitte which noted that in light of extensive work needed to conclude its audit for the financial year 2024, Wood is not now expected to publish its full year accounts by April 30, 2025. In that case, the company’s shares would be suspended from trading from that time as work progresses towards completion of its financial year 2024 accounts, it said at that time.

Sidara has confirmed to Wood’s board that, if an offer is made, it “intends to commit to Wood that it will take all required, necessary or advisable steps to satisfy all antitrust and regulatory conditions to the Offer, subject to certain limited carve-outs in the case of regulatory approvals.”

The proposed combination of Wood and Sidara “would create a leading global engineering consulting company with enhanced scale, capability and diversification,” Wood said. Sidara’s complementary end markets and geographic reach, particularly in the US and Middle East, is expected to enhance Wood’s market-leading position and create opportunities for sustainable, scalable growth, Wood said.

Wood would continue to operate as a standalone brand, it said. If an offer is made and a dela completed, Sidara “intends to support Wood in taking actions to retain and support employees to ensure business continuity,” it said.

Privately owned Sidara, founded in 1956, operates in 69 countries.

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