Clariant to close its bioethanol plant in Romania

Clariant has announced it would be closing its sunliquid® bioethanol plant in Romania and downsize its operations in Germany.
After developing its sunliquid® technology, Clariant took the decision in 2017 to establish its own commercial sunliquid® plant in Podari, which began producing bioethanol in the second quarter of 2022.
In July this year, Cthe Swiss-based firm started a strategic evaluation of the options for the plant after it became clear that the plant did not achieve its targeted operational parameters.
Podari was designed to convert 250,000 tons of straw into cellulosic ethanol.
“After a careful review of all the strategic options, we have decided to close the Podari operation.
“We will work closely with employee representatives in Romania and Germany and are committed to finding solutions that are most socially responsible. For a company that focuses as much on innovation as we do, it is imperative to take firm decisions when a project does not fulfill expectations and to execute even more rigorously on our sustainable growth strategy,” said Conrad Keijzer, chief executive officer of Clariant.
Clariant has also completed a preliminary financial assessment of the impact of this closure, as summarised in the table below.
The company has concluded that restructuring costs and provisions relating to the closure and downsizing of approximately CHF 60 – 90 million (€63 – €95 million), impacting EBITDA, will be incurred in December 2023.
In addition, further impacts of approximately CHF 110 million (€116 million) will be incurred at the EBIT level, including a non-cash impairment to the current asset value of the Podari plant and other remaining assets.