Lummus and Citroniq announce licensing and engineering agreements for green polypropylene plants

Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, and Citroniq Chemicals announced that the two companies have signed licensing and engineering agreements for green polypropylene plants in the U.S., said Hydrocrbonprocessing.

The first plant, scheduled for completion in 2027, will produce 400kta of bio-polypropylene and will be first in North America with this production capability.

"This agreement demonstrates the progress we continue to make with Citroniq in establishing the first world-scale sustainable bio-polypropylene production process in North America," said Romain Lemoine, Chief Business Officer of Polymers and Petrochemicals, Lummus Technology. "Combining Lummus' leadership in polypropylene licensing with Citroniq's carbon negative production capabilities will help us meet the growing demand for bio-polypropylene and accelerate the decarbonization of the downstream energy industry."

"Citroniq's four-plant bio-polypropylene licensing agreement with Lummus Technology is a testament of our commitment to bring sustainable plastics at world-class scale to the marketplace," said Mel Badheka, President & Co-Founder of Citroniq Chemicals.

In April 2023, Lummus and Citroniq formed a partnership to develop four green polypropylene plants in North America using Lummus' Verdene™ polypropylene technology suite. The licensing and engineering agreements announced today are for the first of the four plants.

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South Korea's GS Caltex has started December-loading spot gasoil discussions via a sales tender that closes on Friday, with volumes nearly similar to those loading in November, three sources close to the matter said Reuters on Thursday.

The private refiner is offering at least four cargoes of gasoil with a sulfur content of 10 parts per million (ppm), one cargo of 50ppm sulfur gasoil and three cargoes of 500ppm sulfur gasoil. All of these cargoes are around 300,000 barrels in size.

The 10ppm sulfur gasoil cargoes are scheduled to load Dec. 14-16, Dec. 20-22, Dec. 25-27, Dec. 27-29, while the 50ppm sulfur gasoil cargo is to load Dec. 8-12. The 500 ppm sulfur gasoil cargoes are supposed to load Dec. 3-5, Dec. 5-7, Dec. 12-14.

The refiner sold at least seven gasoil cargoes loading in November, of which four were 10 ppm sulfur gasoil. GS Caltex typically does not comment on commercial matters.

We remind, GS Caltex has issued a tender again to sell jet fuel and/or 500 ppm sulphur gasoil for end-December loading. The company is looking to sell at least 300,000 barrels of jet fuel or 500 ppm sulphur gasoil or 150,000 barrels each of both oil products via the tender that closes on Dec. 1, the sources said.

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Global energy trader Gunvor is exiting fuel oil storage at the PetroSeraya terminal in the Asian oil hub of Singapore, with a Sinopec unit set to take over the space, several market sources told Reuters.

The Geneva-based trader's exit comes after more than a decade of storing fuel oil at the terminal on Pulau Seraya, part of Singapore's Jurong island oil and chemicals hub. Onshore oil storage space in Singapore is limited and is often viewed as a strategic asset for companies and their trading activities.

Gunvor still holds fuel oil storage tanks at the Jurong Port Universal Terminal site although it was not immediately clear if the trading house would renew its lease there, which will likely expire by the end of the year, the sources said.

The company may instead charter tankers to store fuel oil, which provides more flexibility at lower costs, the sources added. A spokesperson for Gunvor Group declined to comment. PetroSeraya and Jurong Port Universal did not respond to requests for comment.

Sinopec Fuel Oil Singapore, a unit of Asia's largest refiner, state-run Sinopec, will gradually take over the fuel oil tanks Gunvor is vacating, which can hold about 600,000 cubic meters of fuel, the sources said. Sinopec Fuel Oil has been expanding its fuel oil cargo and bunker trading volumes this year after receiving a bunker license to sell ship fuel from Singapore's port authority last year.

Sinopec did not respond to a request for comment.Storage fees to lease onshore tanks in Singapore reached S$7 ($5.15) per cubic meter in November for new contracts, about $1 more than floating storage, according to the sources.

We remind, Sinopec said it has signed an equity agreement with Kazakh state-owned oil and gas firm KazMunayGaz for a 30% stake in a planned polyethylene project in Kazakhstan. The project has a design capacity of 1.25 million metric tons per year and is located in western Kazakhstan’s Atryau region, the statement said.

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Brazilian petrochemical producer Braskem said Abu Dhabi oil company ADNOC has presented a new non-binding offer to buy conglomerate Novonor's stake in the firm, said Reuters.

Novonor, formerly known as Odebrecht, is Braskem's main shareholder alongside state-run oil firm Petrobras (PETR4.SA), but has been long looking to sell its controlling stake as part of a broader restructuring.

According to Braskem, ADNOC's bid implies the price of 37.29 reais per share of the company, with an equity value of 10.5 billion reais ($2.14 billion) for Novonor's 38.3% stake in the petrochemical firm.

That represents a premium of more than 100% over Braskem's Wednesday closing price, and Sao Paulo-traded shares of the company soared as much as 23% following the news, making it the top gainer on Brazil's benchmark stock index Bovespa (.BVSP).

Braskem said ADNOC offered to pay in two parts: half in cash upon closing of the deal and the other half via an ADNOC senior equity instrument maturing in seven years with annual interest of 7.25%.

The petrochemical company cited a letter exchange with Novonor in its filing.

Petrobras in a separate statement said it had also been informed of ADNOC's bid but noted it would still analyze it, as any potential deal requires a new shareholder agreement with the state-controlled oil giant.

We remind, OMV is actively in negotiations with the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company about a possible merger of their chemicals business, the Austrian firm's chief executive said on Tuesday, after third-quarter results were released. The company would be listed on the stock exchange, added Chief Executive Alfred Stern.

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Unipar's net income fell by 3.5% year on year to Brazilian reais (R) 190.8m in the third quarter with earnings weighed by reduced spreads, high costs of energy raw materials and strong competition from imports, the Brazilian chemicals producer said.

Operating conditions in Brazil's chemical industry weakened in the third quarter amid waning domestic demand and a decline in production, the company said in a statement.

The country's chemical plant utilisation rate stood at 65% in the January-October period, six percentage points below the level recorded during the same period in 2022, with August recording the worst production results since 2007, it added.

We remind, Unipar has chosen German engineering firm thyssenkrupp nucera for the modernisation of its chlor-alkali plant at Cubatao in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Unipar last month gave the green light to the “Phase Out Project (PO25)”.

Unipar produces chlorine, caustic soda and derivatives such polyvinyl chloride (PVC), vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), ethylene dichloride (EDC) or hydrochloric acid, among others. Its main markets are Brazil and Argentina.

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