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EuroAPI launches strategic review

During its full-year results presentation, CDMO and API supplier EuroAPI announced the launch of Focus-2027, a comprehensive project that will seek to unlock profitable growth and increase returns. Key means of achieving include:

* Streamlining the value-added API portfolio by discontinuing 13 with low or negative margins and focusing on highly differentiated, profitable products, such as vitamin B12, prostaglandins, peptides and oligonucleotides

* Having a focused CDMO offer “leveraging our recognised capabilities and technology platforms” *

Chemours places three on leave during review

The board of Chemours has put CEO Mark Newman, CFO Jonathan Lock and principal accounting officer Camela Wisel on administrative leave pending the completion of an internal review by independent counsel that the board’s audit committee is overseeing.

More cuts to come at Ludwigshafen

In its annual results presentation, BASF announced plans to reduce costs at its main verbund site in Ludwigshafen by a further €1 billion/year by the end of 2026. This comes on top of a similar scale of cuts initiated in late 2022.

Last year, results in Germany suffered due to substantially negative earnings at Ludwigshafen, the company said. This was attributed to two main causes: the temporary low-demand environment is affecting volume development both upstream and downstream, while structurally high energy prices are raising production costs upstream.

Three in green energy deals

Three speciality chemicals companies signed agreements to source more renewable electricity for key sites in February. In Europe, Evonik concluded separate long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) for solar and wind power, while Arkema signed multiple agreements covering four main sites in the US and Sasol and Air Liquide have concluded a third PPA in South Africa.

Metabolomics ‘viable for grouping’

A consortium of scientists has published what it calls “a more robust way of grouping chemicals and using read-across for toxicological data to meet regulatory requirements”, based on the use of metabolomics. This could greatly reduce animal testing, they added.

Orica to buy Cyanco

Australia’s Orica is to buy Cyanco from an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management for $640 million, 7.5x 2023 EBITDA, on a cash-free, debt-free enterprise value basis. This will be funded by existing cash and undrawn committed debt facilities, plus an A$400 million underwritten institutional placement.

Synergies of about $100 million are expected three years after completion. This is expected to be at the end of the 2024 financial year, subject to the expiration of certain regulatory waiting periods and other customary closing conditions.

Perstorp opens India Penta plant

Perstorp has officially inaugurated its ISCC Plus-certified Penta chemicals plant in at Sayakha in Gujarat state, India. Covering 115,000 m2 and employing 120, this will add 40,000 tonnes/year of pentaerythritol and 26,000 tonnes/year of calcium formate, while reducing lead times in Asia by about 50%. The product mix will include the renewable grade Voxtar, which is based on a traceable mass-balance concept and is chemically identical to Penta, which Perstorp already produces in Sweden, Germany and the US.

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