Oltchim Puts Petchem Assets up for Sale
Romania’s Oltchim has put some of its petrochemical assets up for sale. The company, which has been subject to bankruptcy proceedings since 2013, is selling its PVC II plant at Ramnicu Valcea, a phthalic anhydride plant at the same location, plus a petrochemical facility at Bradu-Pitesti. The latter is said to include production of ethylene/propylene, LDPE/HDPE, benzene and ethylene oxide/glycol (EO/EG).
Last December, Otchim approved the sale of several of its operations to fellow producer Chimcomplex Borzesti, which was reported to be paying €127 million for assets that included VCM/PVC, chlor-alkali, oxo-alcohols, propylene oxide and polyols.
Chimcomplex owner Stefan Vuza is said to want to establish a large regional player – the Romanian Chemical Company – as part of plans to relaunch the country’s chemical industry. According to local media reports, the Romanian Chemical Company would start with a turnover of €250 million and make a large number of investments in Borzesti and Ramnicu Valcea.
Capacity is planned to be increased at Borzesti for calcium chloride, lime chloride, ferric chloride and caustic soda. Production of polyols, oxo-alcohols and plasticizers will be expanded at Ramnicu Valcea, where new plants for olefins and EO are also proposed. The planned investment program is said to total more than €275 million.
Chimcomplex Borzesi is also reported to have taken over Oltchim’s environmental liabilities, committing to spend more than €70 million over the next three years.
