LyondellBasell and Covestro will permanently close the propylene oxide styrene and monomer production unit at their joint-venture Maasvlakte site in the Netherlands, the companies said March 18.
Global overcapacities, a strong increase in imports from Asia and the high costs of European production drove the decision, the two companies said in a press statement. They expect these trends to continue, so longer-term profitable production is not anticipated.
The Maasvlakte site has been operational in the Rotterdam region since 2003. Between now and the end of 2026, LyondellBasell will carry out a process to safely shut down and prepare for the demolition of the asset, the company said.
In 2024, LyondellBasell announced a strategic review of European assets of its olefins and polyolefins and intermediates and derivatives business units. The company said it's evaluating alternative ownership for the olefins and polyolefins sites.
What People Are Saying
Aaron Ledet, executive vice-president, intermediates and derivatives and supply chain, LyondellBasell: “While the decision to shut down the PO11 unit is difficult, we must ensure all assets within our portfolio are a long-term strategic fit. We are prioritizing our core assets, which play a key role in our technology differentiation and circularity or provide attractive returns over the cost of capital. We take our obligations toward our employees, European employee reps, councils and unions seriously. We have engaged with them in line with these obligations and will continue to do so. We would like to thank them for the constructive dialogue. We are also in communication with customers, suppliers and other parties across the value chain and will continue to do business as usual.”
Hermann-Josef Dörholt, head of the performance materials business unit, Covestro:
“As part of our Sustainable Future Strategy, we’re continuously working to optimally position Covestro to be a reliable partner for our customers and to operate competitively in a challenging market environment. … We will support LyondellBasell in implementing this change as socially responsibly as possible. At the same time, we remain committed to the European market and will continue to supply customers with our renowned polyether polyols portfolio.”
