A wave of closures and disposals is reshaping the global petrochemical sector as companies around the world rethink their exposure to markets as they adjust to capacity build-up in China and higher costs in Europe.
The European Union is being hit the hardest by the rationalisation, while the United States and the Middle East are considered relatively immune. Petrochemical makers in Asia are also reducing capacity but at a slower pace compared with the EU.
Here is a list of some of the major closures, divestment and portfolio reviews:
- U.S.-based LyondellBasell in June said it had started exclusive talks to sell four olefin and polyolefin plants in Europe to Munich-based investment firm AEQUITA. The sites to be sold are in France, Germany, Britain and Spain. The company has also said it is evaluating options for its factories in the Netherlands and Italy.
- U.S. chemical giant Dow Inc said at the beginning of July it would shut down three upstream sites in Europe: an ethylene cracker in Bohlen, Germany and chlor-alkali & vinyl assets in Schkopau, Germany, and its siloxanes plant in Barry, Britain. The company also announced in January that it would idle a cracker in the Netherlands.
- U.S. oil major ExxonMobil said last year it would shut down the steam cracker and close chemical production at Gravenchon in France, adding that the site had lost more than 500 million euros ($582.75 million) since 2018 and remains uncompetitive.
- British oil company Shell in April completed the sale of its energy and chemicals park in Singapore, which includes a refinery, an ethylene cracker and other petrochemical assets. The group’s top executives told a post-results conference call in May that the group was undertaking a review of its chemical business, including in Europe. Shell hired Morgan Stanley to conduct the strategic review of its chemicals operations in Europe and the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported in March, citing sources.
- BP said in February it was looking for potential buyers for its Ruhr Oel refinery, cracker and downstream assets at Gelsenkirchen in Germany.
- French oil major TotalEnergies said in April it would shut its oldest steam cracker in Antwerp, Belgium, by end-2027, citing a “significant surplus of ethylene expected in Europe”.
- Eni will complete the closure of Italy’s two last steam crackers by the end of this year. One is in Brindisi, Apulia, and the second in Priolo, Sicily. It also closed a polyethylene plant in Ragusa, Sicily.
- Poland’s Orlen said at the end of 2024 it would scale back plans for its olefins petrochemical project, pushing back output until at least 2030 and aiming to cut its estimated cost by as much as a third.
- U.S. chemical group Huntsman Corp announced the closure of its polyurethanes facility in Deggendorf, Germany, and the reduction of some of its other sites and facilities around Europe. The company will close a facility located in Moers, Germany. The closure is expected to be complete by the end of the current quarter.
- Japan’s largest oil refiner, Eneos, said in February that it would consider partially halting an ethylene production facility at its Kawasaki refinery at the end of 2027 due to falling demand. It said in March that it would gradually halt production of lubricants and some petroleum products at its Yokohama plant near Tokyo by March 2028, but will consider relocating lubricants’ output to other facilities.
- Saudi Petrochemical Group SABIC said last year it planned to permanently shut one of its two naphtha-fed crackers at its plant in Geleen, the Netherlands.
