The_Catalyst_Review_January_2024 - 14

SPECIAL FEATURE
technology portfolio. Texplore is part of the Thai SCGC leading Group (Lummus, 2023). Lummus Technology also
announced in 2022 the launch of a major enhancement to its leading ethane feed steam cracker that is capable of
achieving zero CO2
emissions from an ethylene plant.
* SABIC completed in April 2022 the purchase of Clariant's 50% stake in specialties company Scientific Design. This
transaction gives SABIC full ownership of Scientific Design, which is a leading licensor of high-performance process
technologies and catalysts producer. In May 2022 Clariant and its main shareholder Sabic announced to end the
so-called " governance agreement " defining their relationship, stirring speculation SABIC could launch a full takeover
bid for Clariant (Revill, 2022).
* Standard Industries Holdings Inc., a privately held global industrial company, in September 2021, completed the
acquisition of W. R. Grace & Co. for $70 per share in cash. Bob Patel, who was serving as CEO of LyondellBasell,
became the new CEO of Grace as of January 2022 (Grace, 2021).
From this overview, it is clear that the PO catalyst and technology supply chain is global, concentrated and requires an environment
of free and peaceful commerce environment in the world. Today, some clouds are on the horizon (China-US friction, Ukraine war,
cross sanctions, etc.) and these may influence the competitive landscape. The US-China relationship worsened during the four years
of the Trump administration as the US slapped duties on a variety of China-origin products in a bid to support US domestic industries.
Also under Biden, market sources expect the US China relationship status quo to remain as the US warily eyes an increasingly
dominant China. A side effect of tariff dispute and power confrontation is the worsening of the geopolitical climate and the threats of
a new cold war; this is accelerating important geopolitical processes that may affect seriously future economy. In fact, China continues
to be very active to tighten close and long-lasting economic ties with the numerous countries along the ancient Silk Road routes. This
initiative, called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), would include in its largest definition at the beginning of 2023 a number of 147
countries in all the five continents, accounting for two-thirds of the world population and 40% of global GDP (McBride, 2023).
Figure 10 offers a map of the vast territory of BRI's interest, including
large parts of Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe and a part of Latin
America and Oceania. China thought it had more time to make this multigenerational
project work, but risk of losing US export market share has
made the project more urgent. It has also created major geopolitical
and economic opportunity for China to build its own economic sphere
of influence. This may cause the formation of different trade blocs: one
centered on China and its trading and geopolitical partners (this could
comprise most of the developing world enjoying most consumption and
growth) while the other trading bloc would be centered on the US and
partners.
All of the above clearly explains the run of China to self-sufficiency in
various sectors including polyolefins, PO catalysts and components.
Your Author
Salvatore Ali, PhD, is an independent consultant whose long career spanned most aspects of polyolefins industry. He is
providing advisory services to the petrochemical industry on polyolefins catalysts, technologies and polymer products
with focus on technology markets, technology commercialization, acquisitions and IP and know-how management.
Over the past 30-plus years, Dr. Ali has served as VP Technology Projects and Licensing ME/CA in LyondellBasell
(2005-10), VP Catalyst Coordination in Basell Polyolefins (2001-04), VP PP/PE Technology Licensing and Catalyst BU in
Montell (1997-2000), VP and GM of Technipol Technology Company of Montedison Group (1995-96), and GM of the
Functional Chemicals BU of Himont Inc. Dr. Ali has a doctorate degree in Chemical Engineering from the Polytechnic
of Milan and a Masters in International Business Management at IMD, Lausanne. He has more than 40 publications in
referred scientific journals and books. He can be reached at sase.ali@alice.it.
References
Ali S. (2020). " Polymerization Activators, Stereo-Regulators and Supports " TCR June 2020.
Cefic.org (2023). " Working towards A Circular Economy For Plastics " Cefic.org Retrieved in May 2023 https://cefic.org/a-solution-provider-for-sustainability/chemical-recycling-making-plastics-circular/
chemical-recycling-via-conversion-to-feedstock/working-towards-a-circular-economy-for-plastics.
Davis (2022). " LyondellBasell Technology Business: Advancing Competitiveness SPE Polyolefins Conference, February 2022.
Grace (2021). " Standard Industries Completes Acquisition of Grace " Grace PR September 22, 2021.
LyondellBasell (2022). " LyondellBasell Catalyst Production Expansion Adds Life to Infrastructure Projects " LyondellBasell October 04, 2022.
Lummus (2023). " Lummus Technology Announces Partnership with Texplore to License HDPE Technology " Lummus PR MAY 08, 2023.
McBride J. et al. (2023). " China Massive Belt and Road Initiative " COUNCIL on FOREIGN RELATIONS February 2, 2023. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-massive-belt-and-road-initiative.
Peng Z. et al. (2022). " Advanced recycling: Opportunities for growth " McKinsey, May 16, 2022. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/chemicals/our-insights/advanced-recycling-opportunities-for-growth
Revill (2022). " Clariant ending governance deal with SABIC stirs takeover talk " Reuters May 17, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/business/clariant-says-will-publish-its-delayed-4q-earningsmay-19-2022-05-17/.
Richardson
(2023). " Global PE new supply and China spreads tell the real story " ICIS February 3, 2023, https://www.icis.com/asian-chemical-connections/2023/02/global-pe-new-supply-and-china-spreadstell-the-real-story/.
Richter
Lukesova L. (2022). " Phthalate Free Catalysts. A Safer Method of Polypropylene Production Addresses Stringent Regulations, Consumer Needs " The Catalyst Review November 2022, Volume 35,
Issue 11.
TCGR (2023). " The Intelligence Report: Business Shift in the Global Catalytic Process Industries, 2023-2029. " TCGR 2023.
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The Catalyst Review
January 2024
Figure 10. China is pursuing the BRI in all the continents.
Source: Author

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