Huntsman Corporation announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Sasol Ltd. to acquire the 50% interest that Huntsman does not own in the Sasol-Huntsman maleic anhydride joint venture (JV).
The joint venture owns a manufacturing facility in Moers, Germany with capacity to produce 230 million pounds of maleic anhydride. Huntsman will pay Sasol $92.5 million, adjusted for debt and other agreed upon terms, funded from available liquidity. No other terms of the transaction were disclosed. Huntsman and Sasol currently anticipate the closing of the transaction to occur in the fourth quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
Peter Huntsman, Chairman, President and CEO commented: “Acquiring the remaining interest in our maleic German joint venture from Sasol will provide us with the flexibility to fully integrate our European business into our worldwide footprint, thereby better servicing our global customer base in key markets such as construction and coatings. This fits well into our core strategy to expand our portfolio of businesses with higher, more stable margins and strong free cash flow.”
By Mary Page Bailey
Source: Chemical Engineering
France has launched an offshore green hydrogen production platform at the country’s Port of Saint-Nazaire this week, along with its first offshore wind farm. The hydrogen plant, which its operators say is the world’s first facility of its type, coincides with the launch of another “first of its kind” facility in Sweden dedicated to storing hydrogen in an underground lined rock cavern (LRC).
The project sets up the Hydrogen Valley in Rome, the first industrial-scale technological hub for the development of the national supply chain for the production, transport, storage and use of hydrogen for the decarbonization of industrial processes and for sustainable mobility.
At first glance, hydrogen seems to be the perfect solution to our energy needs. It doesn’t produce any carbon dioxide when used. It can store energy for long periods of time. It doesn’t leave behind hazardous waste materials, like nuclear does. And it doesn’t require large swathes of land to be flooded, like hydroelectricity. Seems too good to be true. So…what’s the catch?
