Sabic mulls future of 'crucial' Geleen petchems complex

Saudi Arabian state-controlled petrochemicals company Sabic has highlighted the "crucial position" of its Geleen complex in the Netherlands, but stopped short of ruling out a possible closure of some capacity as it assesses the site's future.

Reports in the Dutch press at the weekend said Sabic is considering closure of one of Geleen's two ethylene crackers in 2024.

Sabic said its "evaluation process for further development of Sabic Geleen is still ongoing and the site will continue to operate as normal, and it "is working on a strategy to guarantee the foundation for a sustainable and economically strong future for all activities in Europe.

"Sabic Geleen occupies a crucial position in the development of this long-term vision, thanks to the site's strong integration of innovation and production capacities," it said.

Geleen's two Sabic crackers, olefins 3 and olefins 4, are more than 40 years old. Both crack naphtha/condensate feedstock, with only a small flexibility for cracking propane and butane. Olefins 3 started in 1973 and has been expanded to 550,00 t/yr ethylene capacity. Olefins 4 started in 1979 and has been expanded to 675,000 t/yr nameplate capacity. Propylene capacities are 260,000 t/yr chemical grade and 485,000 t/yr polymer grade, respectively. Polyolefin capacity on site is nearly 800,000 t/yr polyethylene 600,000 t/yr polypropylene.

The crackers are at the heart of the Chemelot campus, providing feedstock to other downstream chemical producers. The next major turnaround is due for olefins 3 in 2023-24.

Sabic's evaluation of Geleen comes as Europe's petrochemical industry faces the twin challenges of dealing with the decarbonisation of aging infrastructure and tackling the problem of end-of-life management of plastic waste. Targets on the former are generally considered manageable in the short term through efficiency improvements and offsetting, but there is growing realisation about the scale of investment needed to meet longer term targets on tackling these and the issues around plastic waste. Closing capacity is perhaps the simplest way for companies to meet emissions targets, but will have an economic effect and could mean Europe ends up 'importing' emissions from other regions.

Sabic has recently demonstrated it is willing to take time before making difficult investment decisions. It has had its UK Wilton ethylene cracker shut since late 2020 while it considered its future, and plans to reopen it in November after approving a major investment package. Wilton will have a significantly reduced carbon footprint, a large part of which is likely to be achieved by reducing ethylene output, switching fully to ethane feedstock and closing the production, consumption and distribution of propylene, butadiene and benzene. Saudi Arabia announced last year its ambitions to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from global operations under its control by 2060.

By Alex Sands