The Catalyst Review December 2019 - 4

COMMERCIAL NEWS
Avantium Secures Financing
Milestone with €25 MIL EU
Funding for FDCA Flagship
Plant...

BP and Bunge Complete Formation of BP Bunge Bioenergia Joint
Venture in Brazil...

BP and Bunge announced that they have completed the formation of BP Bunge
The Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking Bioenergia, the Brazilian bioenergy joint venture that combines their Brazilian bioenergy
and sugarcane ethanol businesses. Brazil is one of the world's largest and fastest
(BBI JU), an EU body, reconfirmed its
growing markets for biofuels and, through this transaction, BP Bunge Bioenergia is now
award to the PEFerence consortium,
the second largest operator by effective crushing capacity in the Brazilian bioethanol
coordinated by Avantium Renewable
market. The joint venture has 11 biofuels sites in five Brazilian states, with more
Polymers, with a €25 million "PEFerence"
than 10,000 employees. It has total crushing capacity of 32 million metric tonnes of
Horizon 2020 grant. This grant supports
sugarcane per year, capable of producing more than 1.5 billion litres of ethanol, 1.1
the establishment of an innovative
million tons of sugar and exporting 1,200 gigawatt hours of electricity to the national
value chain for the use of plant-based
grid in Brazil. Source: BP, 12/2/2019.
FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) and PEF
(polyethylene furanoate) and represents
Shell Uses Plastic Waste to Produce Chemicals...
an important financing milestone for
Avantium on its path towards a flagship
Shell announced it has successfully made high-end chemicals using a liquid feedstock
plant to make FDCA and PEF commercially made from plastic waste. The technique, known as pyrolysis, is considered a
available. The total funding need of
breakthrough for hard-to-recycle plastics and advances Shell's ambition to use one
Avantium for the FDCA flagship plant is
million tonnes of plastic waste a year in its global chemicals plants by 2025. Atlantaaround €150 million, as indicated at the
based Nexus Fuels LLC recently supplied its first cargo of pyrolysis liquid to Shell's
Technology & Markets Day of Avantium in chemical plant in Norco, Louisiana, USA where it was made into chemicals that are the
June 2019. Avantium intends to have this
raw materials for everyday items. Shell is working with multiple companies who collect
funding in place before the end of 2020.
and transform plastic waste in order to scale this solution to industrial and profitable
Source: Avantium, 11/28/2019.
quantities across its chemicals plants - in Asia, Europe and North America. Source: Shell,
11/21/2019.
Evonik Focuses on Additives
for Plastics and Rubber
Recycling...

Evonik is currently working with a large
disposal company to optimize the
recycling of polyethylene. The Evonik
additive Vestoplast®, an amorphous
polyolefin that is primarily used in
hot-melt adhesives, may be the key to
making that possible. It can specifically
improve the impact strength or flow
properties of polyethylene, which may
be helpful for reusing recycled plastic,
for example in injection molding.
Another problem involves unpleasant
odors, both in the recycling process
and in products made from recycled
substances. The odor-absorbing
products of the TEGO Sorb® brand may
offer a solution for neutralizing such
smells. Evonik is currently examining
the feasibility of solvolysis based on
alkoxides for PET plastics. The process
breaks these materials down into
the two monomers ethylene glycol
and dimethyl terephthalate. Evonik is
already offering the alkoxides that would
enable this chemical recycling as part
of its product range for manufacturing
biodiesel. Source: Evonik, 11/27/2019.
4

ADNOC Signs Framework Agreement with China's Rongsheng
Petrochemical to Explore Domestic and International Growth
Opportunities...
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced it has signed a broad
Framework Agreement with China's Rongsheng Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (Rongsheng)
to explore domestic and international growth opportunities which will support the
delivery of its 2030 smart growth strategy. The agreement will see both companies
explore opportunities in the sale of refined products from ADNOC to Rongsheng,
downstream investment opportunities in both China and the United Arab Emirates,
and the supply and delivery of liquified natural gas (LNG) to Rongsheng. Under the
terms of the Framework Agreement, ADNOC and Rongsheng will explore opportunities
for increasing the volume and variety of refined products sales to Rongsheng as well
as ADNOC's active participation as Rongsheng's strategic partner in refinery and
petrochemical opportunities, including an investment in Rongsheng's downstream
complex. In return Rongsheng will also explore potential investments in ADNOC's
downstream industrial ecosystem in Ruwais, including the proposed Gasoline Aromatics
Plant (GAP) and the potential for ADNOC to supply and deliver liquified natural gas
(LNG) for utilization by Rongsheng within its production complexes in China. Source:
ADNOC, 11/12/2019.
BASF Commences its Smart Verbund Project in Zhanjiang,
China...
BASF officially launched its smart Verbund project in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province,
China, and commenced building its first plants. It marks a milestone of the company's
US$10 billion investment project announced in July 2018. The first plants will produce
engineering plastics and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to serve the increasing
needs of various growth industries in the southern China market and throughout Asia.
Source: BASF, 11/23/2019.

The Catalyst Review

December 2019

The Catalyst Review December 2019

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