🏭 The Column: April 4, 2025

Good morning. Quick error correction to start us off: last week I wrote that all of the increased propylene oxide capacity built in the last 6 years has been built in China, but that’s not true—a reader pointed out to me that LyondellBasell started up their PO/TBA plant outside of Houston just 2 years ago. My apologies!

Things Happened:

Making used oil new again

If you’ve ever wondered where your used motor oil (UMO) goes after you get an oil change, the short answer is “to a network of small collectors who sell the used oil to re-refiners, who remove impurities and sell it to lubricant producers as a base oil”. It’s a fairly straightforward industry, but it’s helpful to know some basics: a typical lubricant formulation is something like 90% base oil and 10% additive (things like antioxidants, detergents, anti-wear additives, rust/corrosion inhibitors, etc.). Base oils are categorized into groups according to their viscosity and impurity content. Groups I, II, and III base oils are produced at refineries from the vacuum gas oil (VGO) fraction after crude oil distillation, but they can also be made by recycling UMO—which is done through a series of processes that remove solids, metals, and broken down additives, leaving a virgin-like base oil behind. It’s “re-refiners” like Safety-Kleen and Heritage-Crystal Clean who do this UMO recycling, but I’m writing about it today because a Shell joint venture with Blue Tide Environmental just started up their new 5,000 barrel per day re-refining site in Baytown, Texas. [LINK]

Other Things Happened:

Kemira acquired Thatcher’s very small (<$10m/yr) iron sulfate business. Ineos acquired CNOOC’s oil and gas assets in the US gulf coast. Lanxess sold its urethane systems business to Japan’s Ube. Shell sold its Singapore Energy and Chemicals park to Chandra Asri and Glencore. Lummus started up a PFAS-destroying pilot plant. Panasonic and Sumitomo are working together on a nickel recycling project. BASF is scaling up its US production of anode binders. Shin-Etsu is expanding its pharmaceutical cellulose business. A new anhydrous hydrogen fluoride plant is coming to South Korea.