Flagship Maasvlakte POSM plant to close in October – union

LONDON (ICIS)–The largest propylene oxide/styrene monomer (POSM) production complex in Europe is expected to close in October, union FNV said on Tuesday, after an agreement was reached between operator LyondellBasell and employees at the site.

The Maasvlakte, Netherlands, plant, which has been offline for most of the last 12 months, will close on 1 October, according to an FNV representative, after the majority of union members at the site backed a deal on severance pay.

“The plant at Maasvlakte will close definitely at October 1st,” the representative said.

“A vast majority of our union members at Lyondell has voted in favor of a social plan in which the company and the trade unions have come to an agreement on a severance pay and outplacement,” the representative added.

LyondellBasell declined to comment on the plans, with a spokesperson stating that no definitive decisions have been made at any of their operations. Joint venture partner Covestro also declined to comment.

The unit was taken down for economic reasons between July and October 2024, before being brought down again in December.

With a production capacity of 315,000 tonnes/year of PO and 680,000 tonnes/year of SM, the complex is the largest production facility of its type in Europe, but has faced increasing challenges as global capacities have grown and energy costs increased.

The Netherlands site is among six in Europe that LyondellBasell placed under strategic review late last year, with the rest centered in the company’s core olefins and polyolefins (O&P) business.

The five O&P sites under scrutiny in Europe are in Berre, France; Muenchmuenster, Germany; Brindisi, Italy; Tarragona, Spain; Carrington, UK; and Maasvlakte, Netherlands.

Including Maasvlakte, around 15.1 million tonnes/year of chemicals production capacity is currently being rationalised, with the wave of closures rocking the industry increasingly rippling out to other regions, particularly Asia.

Thumbnail photo: The Maasvlakte site (Source: LyondellBasell)

Additional reporting by Fergus Jensen