UPM Biochemicals to start Leuna biorefinery in 2H 2025

Market: Petrochemicals
11/02/25

UPM Biochemicals, a division of Finnish forestry company UPM, aims to start integrated commercial production at its biorefinery in Leuna, eastern Germany, in the second half of 2025.

The facility was scheduled to start up by the end of 2022, but the schedule has since been updated several times with the latest iteration specifying a sequential production start in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The 220,000 t/yr facility will convert "responsibly-sourced" solid wood into bio-monoethylene glycol (bio-MEG) and renewable functional fillers (RFF), and will produce bio-monopropylene glycol (bio-MPG) and industrial sugars.

The firm began commissioning and start-up operations at the bio-refinery in late 2024 and made good progress in most units, it said. But it identified corrective works were required in the sugar-to-chemicals process, which are expected to take a few months to complete.

UPM Biochemicals has established partnerships in the automotive, fashion and packaging industry in the past two years, including with German antifreeze producer Haertol, specialty polyester resins producer Selenis, and German sustainable outdoor apparel supplier Vaude. In September 2023, UPM said it had selected chemicals distributor Brenntag as sole distributor of its bio-MEG in Europe.

UPM Biochemicals expects the biorefinery to reach full capacity and positive earnings before interest and taxation in 2027. The firm said there was continued demand for bio-MEG and RFF in 2024, driven by strong interest in sustainability from consumers and brand owners.

By Liana Minihan

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30/04/25

Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

Adds chief executive's comments and further detail on refineries Madrid, 30 April (Argus) — Repsol said it expects its five Spanish refineries to return to normal operations within a week following the nationwide power outage on Monday, 28 April. The company confirmed that power was restored to all its refineries on Monday evening, allowing the restart process to begin. It will take three days to restart the crude distillation units and 5-7 days to restart secondary conversion units, with hydrocrackers taking the longest, according to chief executive Josu Jon Imaz. A momentary and unexplained drop in power supply on the Spanish electricity grid caused power cuts across most of Spain and Portugal, disrupting petrochemical plants and airports, as well as refineries. Imaz noted that Repsol was fortunate that its refineries avoided damage from petroleum coke formation and other solidification processes during the shutdown. Repsol's 220,000 b/d Petronor refinery in Bilbao was the first to restart, thanks to electricity imports from France, he said. Petroleum reserves corporation Cores has temporarily reduced Spain's obligation to hold 92 days of oil product consumption as strategic reserves by four days, mitigating potential supply issues from the outage. Repsol's refining margin indicator, a benchmark based on European crack spreads weighted to the firm's product basket, has been recovering this week and stood at $7.5/bl this morning, compared with an average of $4.2/bl in April and $5.3/bl in the first quarter, according to Imaz. The company posted a 70¢/bl premium to the indicator in January-March on refinery optimisation and use of heavier and cheaper crudes. This was lower than the $1.20/bl premium it reported in 2024 and negatively affected by the high water content in first-quarter deliveries of heavy Mexican Maya, a staple for Repsol's more complex refineries. The high water cut in the Maya receipts shaved a potential 50¢/bl from Repsol's refining margin premium in the first quarter, and operational issues at the company's Tarragona refinery a further 20¢/bl, according to Imaz. Repsol has already completed the three major refinery maintenance projects for 2025 it flagged at its Bilbao, Tarragona and Puertollano refineries . Work on the three refineries in the first quarter cut about 40¢/bl from the firm's refining margin. The three factors point to a combined $1.10/bl shortfall in the firm's refining margin in the first quarter and were one of the reasons for the 80pc fall in adjusted profit at Repsol's refining-focused industrial division to €131mn ($149mn) in January-March from a year earlier and the 62pc fall in group profit to €366mn. By Jonathan Gleave Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

30/04/25

News

30/04/25

Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

Madrid, 30 April (Argus) — Repsol said it expects its five Spanish refineries to return to normal operations within a week following Monday's nationwide power outage. The company confirmed that power was restored to all its refineries on Monday evening, allowing the restart process to begin. It will take three days to restart the crude distillation units and 5-7 days to restart the secondary conversion units, with hydrocrackers taking the longest, according to chief executive Josu Jon Imaz. A momentary and as-yet unexplained drop in power supply on the Spanish electricity grid caused power cuts across most of Spain and Portugal, disrupting petrochemical plants and airports, as well as refineries. Imaz noted that Repsol was fortunate that its refineries avoided damage from petroleum coke formation and other solidification processes during the shutdown. Repsol's 220,000 b/d Petronor refinery in Bilbao was the first to restart, thanks to electricity imports from France, he said. State-controlled petroleum reserves corporation Cores has temporarily reduced Spain's obligation to hold 92 days of oil product consumption as strategic reserves by four days, mitigating potential supply issues from the outage. Imaz declined to speculate on the cause of the power outage. By Jonathan Gleave Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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New Trinidad PM to seek access to Venezuelan gas

29/04/25

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29/04/25

New Trinidad PM to seek access to Venezuelan gas

Kingston, 29 April (Argus) — Major LNG exporter Trinidad and Tobago's new government wants to open discussions with the administration of US president Donald Trump on access to natural gas fields on the border with Venezuela. United National Congress (UNC) party leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar will be the new prime minister of the Caribbean state of 1.5mn people after the party won Monday's general election, ending 10 years of administration by the People's National Congress (PNC) party of Stuart Young. The UNC won 26 seats in the 41-member assembly. "We will work with the Trump administration to see how the discussions with the Venezuelan government on the cross-border gas fields can be reopened," the UNC's energy spokesman David Lee said. Lee is expected to be appointed the energy minister. "We do not have any closed doors on this matter," Lee said. "We will directly engage the US so it will be confident in working with us on resolving our cross-border issues." Trinidad and Tobago's gas-short economy was set back earlier this month by the Trump government's revocation of licenses granted by the administration of former US president Joe Biden to Trinidad. The waivers exempted certain work to develop two gas fields that straddle the maritime border with Venezuela from US sanctions. Access to the Dragon and Manakin-Cocuina gas fields is "vital" to reversing Trinidad's fall in gas production, Young said. Trinidad has been struggling to recover natural gas flow since November 2017, following a long slide from a peak of 4.3 Bcf/d in 2010. Gas output in 2024 was 2.53 Bcf/d, and the fall in output suppressed LNG, petrochemical and fertilizer production. Trinidad's 2024 LNG production of 16.7mn m³ was down by 4.6pc on 2023, according to the latest energy ministry data. The 11.8mn t/yr Atlantic liquefaction plant in southwestern Trinidad, which is majority owned by Shell and BP, is Trinidad's sole LNG producer. Crude production has also declined, moving from a peak of 144,400 b/d in 2005 to 50,854 b/d in 2024, according to the energy ministry. The decline in crude feedstock contributed to the 2018 shutdown of the state-owned 160,000 b/d Guaracara refinery. Young's administration failed at several attempts to engage foreign investors to reopen the plant. The government last month selected Nigerian privately owned oil and gas company Oando to lease and operate the refinery. But the incoming UNC administration will terminate negotiations with Oando to reopen the refinery and will seek new investors for the plant, the party said. By Canute James Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Orbia focused on cost in face of weak PVC market

25/04/25

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25/04/25

Orbia focused on cost in face of weak PVC market

Houston, 25 April (Argus) — Mexico-based chemicals producers Orbia is focusing on reducing future costs as the broader polyvinyl chloride (PVC) industry faces weakening market dynamics. Orbia said Friday it would focus on maintaining strict discipline on fixed costs, working capital, and capital investments to weather the turbulent global economic landscape. The company is targeting $250mn in savings by 2027, with cumulative savings of $160mn by the end of 2025. The company also expects $75mn of divestments by the end of the year in its building and infrastructure segment. Plants and related infrastructure in Europe were the primary targets of the optimization, according to company officials on the first-quarter earnings call. Orbia chief executive Sameer Bharadwaj said the company could revise capital expenditures lower from its initial $400mn target provided earlier this year should market conditions further deteriorate. Short-term operating costs currently face lower levels with falling ethane prices, a critical feedstock to manufacture ethylene for PVC production. The focus on cost management was spurred by sluggishness in the global PVC market. Chinese and US PVC producers drove export prices lower as a means of moving excess capacity, which Orbia expects to continue. "PVC pricing is as low as it gets" Bharadwaj said. He added producer margins would be squeezed further if product prices continue to decrease. Orbia posted a $41mn profit during the first quarter, down from the $106mn profit a year earlier. Orbia's polymer solutions segment, which includes PVC production, reported $6mn loss during the three-month period because of lower global prices for vinyls and a force majeure at its Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, plant that was lifted in mid-April. Orbia made a $24mn profit during the same period a year ago. The building and infrastructure segment, inclusive of PVC products, posted a $3mn profit for the quarter compared to a $33mn profit a year earlier. By Aaron May Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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LyondellBasell targets 85pc cracker run rate in 2Q

25/04/25

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25/04/25

LyondellBasell targets 85pc cracker run rate in 2Q

Houston, 25 April (Argus) — LyondellBasell expects utilization of its olefins and polyolefins plants in the US to increase by 5 percentage points in the second quarter to 85pc of capacity as crackers return from maintenance and an unplanned outage, the company said today. The company expected its first-quarter utilization rate of 80pc because of a planned turnaround in Channelview, Texas, but the rate was still 10 points lower than the first quarter last year. Maintenance teams in Channelview are concluding a 60-day turnaround at the company's largest US olefins producing facility that began in February. That turnaround involved work on one of its two 930,000 metric tonne (t)/yr crackers, its 473,000t/yr Flex-1 metathesis unit, and its C4 processing unit. Another key factor increasing second-quarter operating rates is the restart of the LyondellBasell's 1.54mn t/yr joint venture cracker with Sasol in Lake Charles, Louisiana. This is the company's largest US cracker, which had an unplanned shutdown in the first quarter. Also in the first quarter, a winter storm in January took other olefins-producing assets offline. The second quarter historically is absent of weather events like freezes and hurricanes that can curtail cracker operations. This second-quarter's 5 percentage point increase in operating rates comes against the backdrop of major uncertainty surrounding both US ethane and polyethylene (PE) exports to China. Beijing announced 34pc retaliatory tariffs on US goods on 4 April, then raised these to 125pc on 11 April in response to tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese manufactured goods. The sky-high rates apply to key petrochemical feedstocks LPG and ethane, as well as imports of US polyethylene. If US ethane is not exempted from China's tariff, LyondellBasell said its ethane-based production in the US would likely benefit from lower ethane feedstock costs. US ethane and certain grades of PE may be on a list of 130 products that China plans to exempt from its across-the-board tariffs on US goods, LyondellBasell said, citing "rumors" that it has also heard from its Asian customers. The uncertainty around trade caused LyondellBasell to reduce its planned capital expenditure for this year to $1.9bn, down from $2.2bn. But the company is neither cancelling nor delaying plans for its new $800mn Flex-2 metathesis unit in Channelview, Texas, which was announced at the beginning of March. Construction for that unit will begin in late 2025, and operations are scheduled to begin in late 2028. It will have a capacity of 400,000 t/yr of propylene and is expected to add $150mn/yr to earnings. In LyondellBasell's view, ethylene-to-propylene conversion technology has greater reliability and lower capital and carbon intensity than the major competing technology, propane dehydrogenation (PDH). Overall, the company views reducing its net long position in ethylene and its net short position in propylene as essential. The company during the first quarter closed its Houston refinery, which produced 164,000 t/yr of propylene. By Michael Camarda Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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