US seeks Lithium Americas stake amid Thacker Pass loan review

The US government is seeking an equity stake of up to 10% in Lithium Americas Corp. as it reviews a $2.26 billion loan for the Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada, Reuters reported Sept. 23, citing sources familiar with the matter, as per Chemweek.

A Lithium Americas spokesperson told Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, that the company does not disagree with the details in the Reuters report.

"We cannot comment on the details of ongoing discussions with the Department of Energy and General Motors regarding the first draw on our loan agreement," the spokesperson said in an email. "We remain in active discussions with the DOE and our partner, GM, and will provide an update at the appropriate time."

Discussion topics “include certain conditions precedent to draw on the DOE Loan and associated loan specifics, as well as incremental requests from the DOE for potential further conditions to first draw and/or potential amendments to the DOE Loan and associated transaction documents, including corresponding consideration,” Lithium Americas said in a statement Sept. 24.

The Biden administration approved the loan in 2024 for Thacker Pass, the largest lithium project in the US. Lithium Americas holds a 62% stake, while General Motors Co. holds the remaining 38%.

Lithium Americas was supposed to make the first draw from the loan earlier this month, but government officials wanted to renegotiate terms because of concerns about the company’s ability to repay due to low lithium prices, according to Reuters.

Platts reported yesterday that the Trump administration is reevaluating the loan.

US government officials are also urging General Motors to transfer control over some parts of the project to the government, the Reuters report added.

“The incentive for taking equity stakes seem significantly higher than withdrawing funding,” according to Laurence Alexander, an analyst with Jefferies LLC (New York). “To the extent the US government believes equity stakes have a significantly lower political cost than tax increases, mark-to-market equity stakes can offset deficit financing, higher deficit spending can support corporate profits, interest rates can trend lower to support equity valuations, and equity markets can view equity stakes as a leading indicator of favorable ROIC [return on capital invested].”

In July, the US Department of Defense reached a deal with rare earths producer MP Materials. The deal positions the DOD to become the company’s largest shareholder with a 15% stake.

Under the agreement, MP Materials will increase its rare earth magnet manufacturing capacity to about 10,000 metric tons per year by building a second US manufacturing facility. The DOD has agreed to guarantee that all of the facility’s output is sold to defense or commercial customers.

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Carbios SA (Clermont-Ferrand, France) said it will resume construction of its 50,000 metric tons per year polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling plant at Longlaville, France, by the end of this year, as per Chemweek.

The company, which postponed construction of the plant for six to nine months in December 2024 due to delayed funding, said Sept. 24 that it now expects to commission the plant in the second half of 2027. It broke ground on the plant in April 2024.

The Longlaville plant will use an enzymatic depolymerization process to recycle PET waste into feedstock monomers, which can then be purified and repolymerized into PET. Carbios' approach is different from the more commoditized grade of mechanically recycled PET, where PET bottle bales are hot-washed and produced as flakes.

The company said it expects to benefit significantly from a policy – Article L. 541-10-3 under the Environmental Code – announced by the French government Sept. 7 that will support the biorecycled plastics sector.

“This decree represents a powerful new lever to accelerate customer adoption of Carbios’ technology as it enables them to benefit from a €1,000 per metric ton bonus for including biorecycled plastics derived from hard-to-recycle waste into sensitive-contact packaging. Carbios will thus be able to supply its packaging clients, selling on the French market, with recycled PET with a quality equivalent to virgin PET,” it said.

The company said its recycled PET will offer superior characteristics compared to mechanically recycled products “at a comparable net price, while processing complex waste that is currently not recycled.”

Carbios said its plant financing plan would include €42.5 million in public funding, other potential additional funding that is currently under discussion, and €72 million of available cash as of June 30, 2025. The company said it received clear interest from private investors, which is conditional upon the pre-sale of a significant portion of the future plant’s capacity.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the recycled PET free delivered northwest Europe food-grade pellet spot price at €1,570 per metric ton on Sept. 23, down €60 per metric ton month over month, and at a €695 per metric ton premium to virgin PET free delivered northwest Europe.

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Iran is interested in organizing gas and energy swaps with Azerbaijan and Pakistan, Iranian Ambassador to Baku Mojtaba Demirchilou said, as per Interfax.

"The energy sector plays a key role in the development of relations between Iran and Azerbaijan. Our countries have developed very good relations in this sphere," Demirchilou said in an interview with the Trend agency.

Projects for bilateral and multilateral cooperation in energy have already been identified, and the work on coordinating them should be completed in the near future, he said.

"Among the projects are the implementation of an agreement on the joint development of oil fields in the Caspian Sea, the synchronization of the power grids of Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia, the transportation of Russian gas to Iran via Azerbaijan, gas swaps between Azerbaijan, Iran and Iraq, and gas and electricity swaps between Azerbaijan, Iran and Pakistan," he said.

There are also joint projects on the Aras river. "The two countries have built hydro nodes for joint operation, and in the near future, hydroelectric power plants will be commissioned at these hydro nodes," he said.

Regarding the synchronization of the power grids of Iran, Azerbaijan, and Russia, Demirchilou said that the details of the initiative are currently being worked out. There is an agreement at the level of the three countries' leaderships on exchanging electricity, he said.

"The Iranian company Monenco has completed research work in this area and prepared reports, which have been presented to the parties. Based on these, the possibility of synchronizing the power grids has emerged. This will increase the reliability of the energy systems and create opportunities for exporting electricity to third countries," he said.

Trade turnover between Iran and Azerbaijan increased 34% in 2024 compared to the level of the previous year, to $647 million, he said. "However, this figure remains insufficient. Iran is working on strengthening economic ties by removing financial and banking barriers, simplifying transit and cargo transportation, and expanding interaction between business communities," he said.

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The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) signed an agreement on Tuesday to acquire 98.82% of the shares of Italiana Petroli S.p.A. (IP Group) from API Holding, SOCAR said in a statement, as per Interfax.

The document was signed within the framework of the 1st Azerbaijan International Investment Forum (AIIF-2025) in Baku. The completion of the deal is expected in Q1 2026.

The closing of the deal is subject to regulatory approvals, SOCAR said.

Italiana Petroli is one of the largest integrated downstream platforms in Italy. The company owns thousands of gas stations across the country and two oil refineries with an annual capacity of around 10 million tonnes. It sells specialized products such as bitumen, aviation fuel and lubricants, and has a logistics system covering the entire country.

SOCAR plans to continue cooperation with the Italiana Petroli team to preserve and strengthen the strong market position and reputation of the Italian company, and to ensure the continuous provision of services to customers and partners, it said.

SOCAR does not plan to reduce the staff of Italiana Petroli.

"This purchase is an important stage in expanding SOCAR's presence in the European energy market and reflects Azerbaijan's commitment to strengthening bilateral economic and energy ties with Italy, as well as contributing to the energy security and sustainable development of the European region," it said.

"The acquisition of Italiana Petroli is an important step in implementing our international diversification strategy. It demonstrates our long-term commitment to developing a competitive, innovative and socially responsible business, contributes to Europe's energy security, and strengthens the partnership between Azerbaijan and Italy," SOCAR President Rovshan Najaf was quoted as saying.

Previously, Italian media reported that the deal would give SOCAR control over a network of more than 4,600 gas stations under the IP brand, as well as oil refining capacities. The total cost of the deal is estimated at approximately 3 billion euros, including around 500 million euros in cash.

SOCAR, advised by Intesa Sanpaolo IMI CIB, prevailed over other contenders for the purchase of Italiana Petroli including Switzerland's Gunvor and the UAE's Bin Butti Group.

IP Group was founded in 1933 with its headquarters in Rome. It is fully owned by the Brachetti-Peretti family.

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Uzbekistan and one of the world's leading industrial gas production companies, Air Products (United States), plan to accelerate the implementation of a project to build a gas chemical complex (GCC) in Bukhara, as per Interfax.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting with Air Products Chief Executive Officer Eduardo Menezes as part of the business program of his working visit to New York, the president's press service said on Tuesday.

"The parties agreed to accelerate the implementation of new projects, including the construction of a gas chemical complex in Bukhara, the development of coal gasification technologies, and the production of environmentally friendly aviation fuel," the press service said.

The meeting considered practical aspects of further expanding mutually beneficial cooperation. Air Products' total investment in the Uzbek economy exceeds $1 billion, the press service said. Among the implemented projects are an industrial gas processing unit at the GTL plant, hydrogen production at the Fergana Oil Refinery, the production of liquid carbon dioxide at the Navoiazot enterprise and the creation of a shock freezing center.

Following the meeting, an agreement was reached to adopt a roadmap for advancing joint projects.

Air Products specializes in producing and supplying industrial gases. Its market capitalization exceeds $63 billion. According to the company, it annually produces around 200 million tonnes of industrial gases in more than 50 countries and manages a network of around 750 production facilities.

Uzbekistan signed an agreement with Air Products on the industrial processing of gases as part of the GCC project in May 2023.

As reported, the project to build a gas chemical complex in the Bukhara region using methanol-to-olefins technology is being implemented with the participation of companies such as John Wood Group Plc (UK), the U.S. companies Air Products, Koch Industries Inc. and Chemtex Global Corp., Topsoe (Denmark), Versalis (Italy) and Sinopec (China).

The complex, which will become the largest producer of polymer products in Central Asia, will have a capacity of over 1.11 million tonnes of products per year. The cost of the project was estimated at $5 billion.

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