Investments: KazMunayGas reduces share in Silleno; Nextchem raises stake in Italian plastics recycler

National oil firm KazMunayGas (KMG, a subsidiary of Samruk Kazyna) has sold a 20% share in Silleno, a joint venture developing a US$7.7 billion polyethylene project, which is also being developed by Sibur and Sinopec, in the Atyrau region, with a capacity of 1.25 million tonnes.

Now, the company controls a 29.9% stake in Silleno. The other shareholders in Silleno include KMG, KMG PetroChem, Russian Sibur Holding and Chinese Sinopec Overseas Investment Holding (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Last year, KMG, Sinopec and Sibur reached an arrangement on the PE project. Thus, KMG and Sibur sold Sinopec 20% and 10% shares in Silleno, the project’s operator. As a result, KMSG was expected to control a 40% stake in the company, with Sinopec and Sibur controlling 30% each. All these legal procedures are expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year.

In addition, KMG said that it signed an agreement with Sinopec on a feasibility analysis of terephthalic acid and polyethylene terephthalate (PETF) production in Atyrau. Once the analysis is complete, the two sides will decide whether to proceed with the project.

The future PETF manufacturing site is expected to have a capacity of 735,000 tonnes.

The plant will be built on the territory of a special economic zone in Karabatan of the Atyrau region, where a PP facility is already operating. (KMG controls 49.5% of the project.) The new facility is expected to be commissioned into operation in 2028.

Kazakhstan has already signed license agreements with Chevron Phillips Chemical and Univation Technologies. The country wants to use their Martech ADL and Unipol PE process technologies.

In other news, Italy’s NextChem Tech, part of the Marie Group, has acquired an additional 34% stake in both MyReplast Industries and MyReplast. from an existing stakeholder. The transaction allows NextChem Tech to increase its interest from 51% to 85% of the share capital of both companies, while the remaining 15% is still held by a local entrepreneur. The overall maximum consideration is about EUR8.9 million, of which EUR5.1 million due by closing and EUR3.8 million deferred (including an earn-out) to be paid on an annual basis according to several milestones until 31 December 2027.

Based in Bedizzole (Northern Italy), MyReplast Industries has been part of the NextChem family since 2019, representing the flagship of the upcycling business cluster which also includes other production and trading entities based in the UAE.

In Italy, it owns and operates the Bedizzole industrial plant which applies an innovative mechanical upcycling process to produce high-purity recycled and compounded polymers (r-polymers) based on NX Replastproprietary technology patented by MyReplast.

These recycled polymers are suitable to replace fossil-based virgin materials in several industrial applications (such as automotive, pipes, building applications, etc.).

NX Replast proprietary technology has recently been selected by Aliplast, part of Italian multiutility Hera Group, for its new plastic upcycling project to be implemented in Modena. MyReplast Industries, after having increased the Bedizzole plant production capacity up to 40,000 tonNES/year of polyolefin rigid plastic waste, has recently been selected - in the framework of Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan - to receive funding for an innovative circular economy project to enhance process automation, ensuring the highest level of safety and quality of the production lines.

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