LyondellBasell/Covestro consider shutting POSM facility in Netherlands
In line with the review of its European assets started last year, chemicals firm LyondellBasell is to reorganise its Maasvlakte propylene oxide (PO) and styrene monomer (SM) production facility in the Netherlands, with a possible shutting down. The Maasvlakte PO/SM plant is a 50-50 joint venture between LyondellBasell and Germany's Covestro.
It has been reported that the Dutch trade union is negotiating with the company on compensation for workers whose jobs may be affected and assistance with transitioning to new roles.
The facility has 315,000 tonne/year of PO capacity and 640,000 tonne/year of SM capacity. It began operations in 2003 and employs approximately 160 people.
The plant has been idled since December 2024.
Europe's petrochemicals sector remains squeezed by high energy costs, a higher overall cost base compared to other production regions and stagnant regional downstream demand.
LyondellBassell also has 220,000 tonnes/year of PO and tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA) production capacity in France and 260,000 tonnes/year of PO and TBA capacity in the Netherlands. It also has a total of 649,000 tonnes/year of PO and SM capacity in the US that it operates jointly with Covestro, as well as over 1million tonnes/year of its own PO and TBA capacity in the US including a 470,000 tonnes/year plant in Channelview, Texas, which started up in early 2023.
Production margins for PO/TBA facilities, which supply TBA for MTBE production, are generally much more favourable than for PO/SM plants. And lower US energy costs help to make US PO output more cost-efficient than in European production.
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