LyondellBasell Industries N.V. and its consolidated subsidiaries (LyondellBasell) is a global, independent chemical company.
The company participates globally across the petrochemical value chain and is an industry leader in many of the company’s product lines. The company’s chemicals businesses primarily consist of large processing plants that convert large volumes of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon feedstocks into plastic resins and other chemicals. The company’s chemical products tend to be b...
LyondellBasell Industries N.V. and its consolidated subsidiaries (LyondellBasell) is a global, independent chemical company.
The company participates globally across the petrochemical value chain and is an industry leader in many of the company’s product lines. The company’s chemicals businesses primarily consist of large processing plants that convert large volumes of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon feedstocks into plastic resins and other chemicals. The company’s chemical products tend to be basic building blocks for other chemicals and plastics. The company’s plastic products are used in large volumes, as well as smaller specialty applications. The company’s customers use its plastics and chemicals to manufacture a wide range of products that people use in their everyday lives, including food packaging, home furnishings, automotive components, paints and coatings. The company’s refining business consists of its Houston refinery, which processes crude oil into refined products, such as gasoline and distillates. The company also develops and licenses chemical and polyolefin process technologies and manufacture and sell polyolefin catalysts.
In March 2023, the company introduced its new strategy to deliver sustainable solutions and profitable long-term growth.
The company’s three strategic pillars include growing and upgrading the core; building a profitable Circular & Low Carbon Solutions (‘CLCS’) business; and stepping up performance and culture.
Segments
The company manages its operations through six operating segments. The company’s reportable segments are:
Olefins and Polyolefins-Americas (‘O&P-Americas’). The company’s O&P-Americas segment produces and markets olefins and co-products, polyethylene and polypropylene.
Olefins and Polyolefins-Europe, Asia, International (‘O&P-EAI’). The company’s O&P-EAI segment produces and markets olefins and co-products, polyethylene and polypropylene.
Intermediates and Derivatives (‘I&D’). The company’s I&D segment produces and markets propylene oxide and its derivatives; oxyfuels and related products; and intermediate chemicals, such as styrene monomer, and acetyls.
Advanced Polymer Solutions (‘APS’). The company’s APS segment produces and markets compounding and solutions, such as polypropylene compounds, engineered plastics, masterbatches, engineered composites, colors and powders.
Refining. The company’s Refining segment refines heavy, high-sulfur crude oil and other crude oils of varied types and sources available on the U.S. Gulf Coast into refined products, including gasoline and distillates.
Technology. The company’s Technology segment develops and licenses chemical and polyolefin process technologies and manufactures and sells polyolefin catalysts.
Olefins and Polyolefins Segments Generally
The company is one of the leading worldwide producers of olefins and polyethylene (‘PE’) and the company is the world’s second largest producer of polypropylene (‘PP’). The company manages its olefin and polyolefin business in two reportable segments, O&P-Americas and O&P-EAI.
Olefins and Co-products—Ethylene is the most significant petrochemical in terms of worldwide production volume and is the key building block for PE and many other chemicals and plastics. Ethylene is produced by steam cracking hydrocarbons such as ethane, propane, butane and naphtha. This production results in co-products such as aromatics and other olefins, including propylene and butadiene. Ethylene and its co-products are fundamental to many parts of the economy, including the production of consumer products, packaging, housing and automotive components and other durable and nondurable goods. Olefins and co-products sales accounted for approximately 10% of the company’s consolidated revenues in 2024.
Polyolefins—Polyolefins such as PE and PP are polymers derived from olefins including ethylene and propylene. Polyolefins are the most widely used thermoplastics in the world and are found in applications and products that enhance the everyday quality of life. The company’s products are used in consumer, automotive and industrial applications ranging from food and beverage packaging to housewares and construction materials.
Polyethylene—The company produces high density polyethylene (‘HDPE’), low density polyethylene (‘LDPE’) and linear low-density polyethylene (‘LLDPE’). PE sales accounted for approximately 19% of the company’s consolidated revenues in 2024.
Polypropylene—The company produces PP homopolymers and copolymers. PP sales accounted for approximately 16% of the company’s consolidated revenues in 2024.
Olefins and Polyolefins-Americas Segment
Overview—The company’s O&P-Americas segment produces and markets olefins and co-products, polyethylene and polypropylene.
Sales & Marketing / Customers—Most of the ethylene the company produce is consumed internally as a raw material in the production of PE and other derivatives, with the balance sold to third party customers, primarily under multi-year contracts.
The company’s propylene production is used as a raw material in the production of PP and propylene oxide and derivatives of those products, and the company regularly purchases propylene from third parties because its internal needs exceed the company’s internal production. In addition to purchases of propylene, the company purchases ethylene for resale, when necessary, to satisfy customer demand above the company’s own production levels. Volumes of any of these products purchased for resale can vary significantly from period to period and are typically most significant during extended outages of the company’s own production, such as during planned maintenance. The company also consumes PP in its PP compounding business, which is included in the company’s APS segment.
Most of the ethylene and propylene production from the company’s Channelview, Corpus Christi and La Porte, Texas facilities is shipped via a pipeline system, which has connections to numerous U.S. Gulf Coast consumers. This pipeline system extends from Corpus Christi to Mont Belvieu, Texas. In addition, exchange agreements with other ethylene and co-products producers allow access to customers who are not directly connected to this pipeline system. Some ethylene is shipped by railcar from the company’s Clinton, Iowa facility to the company’s Morris, Illinois facility and some is shipped directly to customers. Propylene from Clinton and Morris is generally shipped by marine vessel, barge, railcar or truck.
The company’s PP and PE production is typically sold through its sales organization to an extensive base of established customers and distributors servicing both the domestic and export markets either under annual contracts or on a spot basis. The company has sales offices in various locations in North America and the company’s polyolefins are primarily transported in North America by railcar or truck. Export sales are primarily to customers in Latin America.
Joint Venture Relationships—The company has a 50% interest in Louisiana Integrated PolyEthylene JV LLC (‘Louisiana Joint Venture’), which provides the company with capacity of approximately 770 thousand tons of ethylene and 445 thousand tons of low density and linear-low density PE production per year. The company operates the joint venture assets and market the polyethylene off-take for all partners through the company’s global sales team. The company also participates in a joint venture in Mexico, which provides the company with capacity of approximately 290 thousand tons of PP production per year. The company does not hold a majority interest in or have operational control of this joint venture. The capacities are based on the company’s percentage ownership of the joint venture’s total capacity.
Based on published capacity data and including the company’s proportionate share of joint ventures, as of December 31, 2024, the company was:
the third largest producer of ethylene in North America, with ethylene capacity of 6.2 million tons per year;
the third largest producer of PE in North America with capacity of 4.1 million tons per year; and
the largest producer of PP in North America, with capacity of 1.9 million tons per year, including approximately 290 thousand tons of Catalloy capacity.
Olefins and Polyolefins-Europe, Asia, International Segment
Overview—The company’s O&P-EAI segment produces and markets olefins and co-products, polyethylene and polypropylene.
Sales & Marketing / Customers—The company’s ethylene production is primarily consumed internally as a raw material in the production of polyolefins, and the company purchases additional ethylene as needed to meet the company’s production needs. The company’s propylene production is used as a raw material in the production of PP and propylene oxide and derivatives of those products, and the company regularly purchases propylene from third parties because its internal needs exceed the company’s internal production.
With respect to PP and PE, the company’s production is typically sold through the company’s sales organization to an extensive base of established customers under annual contracts or on a spot basis and is also sold through distributors. The company’s polyolefins are primarily transported in Europe by railcar or truck.
The company’s regional sales offices are in various locations, including The Netherlands, Hong Kong, China, India and the United Arab Emirates. The company also operates through a worldwide network of local sales and representative offices in Europe and Asia. The company’s joint ventures described below typically manage their domestic sales and marketing efforts independently, and the company typically operates as their agent for all or a portion of their exports.
Joint Venture Relationships—The company participates in several manufacturing joint ventures in Saudi Arabia, China, Poland, South Korea, and Thailand. The company does not hold majority interests in any of these joint ventures, nor does the company has operational control. These joint ventures provide the company with annual production capacity of approximately 1.8 million tons of PP, approximately 1.3 million tons of olefins and approximately 760 thousand tons of PE. These capacities are based on the company’s percentage ownership interest in the joint ventures’ total capacities.
The company generally licenses its polyolefin process technologies and supply catalysts to the company’s joint ventures through its Technology segment.
In Europe, the company has the capacity to produce approximately 60% of the propylene requirements for the company’s European PP production and all of the ethylene requirements for the company’s European PE production.
Based on published capacity data and including the company’s proportionate share of the company’s joint ventures, as of December 31, 2024, the company was:
the third largest producer of ethylene in Europe with an ethylene capacity of 1.9 million tons per year;
the largest producer of PE in Europe with 2.1 million tons per year of capacity; and
the largest producer of PP in Europe with 2.5 million tons per year of capacity, including approximately 280 thousand tons of Catalloy capacity.
Other—In 2024, the company announced a strategic review of some of the company’s European assets with the goal of strengthening the company’s future profitability. The review focuses on the company’s non-core European assets including five facilities in the company’s O&P-EAI segment located in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy. Additionally, it encompasses the European propylene oxide (‘PO’) joint venture in the Netherlands, which is included in the company’s I&D segment. Europe remains a core market for the company; the five sites under strategic review contribute approximately 30% of the production capacity for the O&P-EAI segment. The review is ongoing, and the company remains committed to safe and efficient operations, as well as delivering on the company’s customer commitments.
Intermediates and Derivatives Segment
Overview—The company’s I&D segment produces and markets PO and its derivatives, oxyfuels and related products, and intermediate chemicals such as styrene monomer (‘SM’), and acetyls.
PO and Derivatives—The company produces PO through two distinct technologies, one of which yields tertiary butyl alcohol (‘TBA’) as the co-product and the other of which yields SM as the co-product. The two technologies are mutually exclusive with dedicated assets for manufacturing either PO/TBA or PO/SM. PO is an intermediate commodity chemical and is a precursor of polyols, propylene glycol, propylene glycol ethers and butanediol. PO and derivatives are used in a variety of durable and consumable items with key applications such as polyurethanes used for insulation, automotive/furniture cushioning, coatings, surfactants, synthetic resins and several other household usages. In 2023, the company started up a PO/TBA plant in Houston, Texas, which has the capacity to produce 470 thousand tons of PO and 1.0 million tons of TBA per year.
Oxyfuels and Related Products—The company produces two distinct ether-based oxyfuels, methyl tertiary butyl ether (‘MTBE’) and ethyl tertiary butyl ether (‘ETBE’). These oxyfuels are produced by converting the TBA co-product of PO into isobutylene and reacting with methanol or ethanol to produce either MTBE or ETBE. Both are used as high-octane gasoline components that help gasoline burn cleaner and reduce automobile emissions. Other TBA derivatives, which the company refers to as ‘C4 chemicals,’ are largely used to make synthetic rubber and other gasoline additives.
Intermediate Chemicals—The company produces other commodity chemicals that utilize ethylene as a key component feedstock, including SM, and acetyls. SM is utilized in various applications such as plastics, expandable polystyrene for packaging, foam cups and containers, insulation products and durables and engineering resins. The company’s acetyls products comprise methanol, glacial acetic acid (‘GAA’) and vinyl acetate monomer (‘VAM’). Natural gas (methane) is the feedstock for methanol, some of which is converted to GAA. A portion of the GAA is reacted with ethylene to create VAM, an intermediate chemical used in fabric or wood treatments, pigments, coatings, films and adhesives.
Sales & Marketing / Customers—The company sells its PO and derivatives through multi-year sales and processing agreements, as well as spot sales. Some of the company’s sales agreements have cost plus pricing terms. PO and derivatives are transported by barge, marine vessel, pipeline, railcar and tank truck.
The company sells its oxyfuels and related products under market and cost-based sales agreements and in the spot market. Oxyfuels are transported by barge, marine vessel and tank truck and are used as octane blending components worldwide outside of the U.S. due to their blending characteristics and emission benefits. C4 chemicals, such as high-purity isobutylene, are sold to producers of synthetic rubber and other chemical products primarily in the U.S. and Europe, and are transported by railcar, tank truck, pipeline and marine shipments. The sales of oxyfuels and related products accounted for approximately 13% of the company’s consolidated revenues in 2024.
Intermediate chemicals are shipped by barge, marine vessel, pipeline, railcar and tank truck. SM is sold globally into regions such as North America, Europe, Asia and South America export markets through spot sales and commercial contracts. Within acetyls, methanol is consumed internally to make GAA, used as a feedstock for oxyfuels and related products and also sold directly into the merchant commercial market. GAA is converted with ethylene to produce VAM which is sold worldwide under multi-year commercial contracts and on a spot basis.
Sales of the company’s PO and derivatives, oxyfuels and related products, and intermediate chemicals are made by the company’s marketing and sales personnel, and also through distributors in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.
Joint Venture Relationships—The company has two PO joint ventures with Covestro AG, one in the U.S. and one in Europe. The company operates all production facilities for the PO joint ventures. The company’s proportional production capacity provided through these joint ventures is approximately 160 thousand tons of PO and approximately 340 thousand tons of SM. The company does not share marketing or product sales for these PO joint ventures. As disclosed above, the company’s European PO JV is included in the company’s European strategic review.
The company also has two joint venture manufacturing relationships in China with China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (‘Sinopec’). The first joint venture provides the company with production capacity of approximately 50 thousand tons of PO per year. The second joint venture provides the company with annual production capacity of approximately 140 thousand tons of PO and 300 thousand tons of SM. The company markets its share of the joint ventures’ production in the Chinese market. These capacities are based on the company’s operational share of the joint ventures’ total capacities.
For the production of oxyfuels, the company purchases its ethanol feedstock requirements from third parties, and obtain the company’s methanol from both internal production and external sources. Carbon monoxide and methanol are the primary raw materials required for the production of GAA. The company sources carbon monoxide from internal production, which can be complemented by purchases from external sources as needed. The methanol required for the company’s downstream production of acetyls is internally sourced from the company’s methanol plants in La Porte, Texas, and Channelview, Texas. Natural gas is the primary raw material required for the production of methanol.
In addition to ethylene, acetic acid is a primary raw material for the production of VAM. The company obtains all its requirements for acetic acid and ethylene from the company’s internal production. Historically, the company has used a large percentage of its acetic acid production to produce VAM.
Based on published capacity data and including the company’s proportionate share of the company’s joint ventures, as of December 31, 2024, the company was the second largest producer of PO worldwide; and the largest producer of oxyfuels worldwide.
Other—In May 2024, the company sold the company’s U.S. Gulf Coast-based ethylene oxide & derivatives (‘EO&D’) business along with the production facility located in Bayport, TX.
Advanced Polymer Solutions Segment
Overview—The company’s APS segment produces and markets compounding and solutions, such as polypropylene compounds, engineered plastics, masterbatches, engineered composites, colors and powders.
The company’s polypropylene compounds are produced from blends of polyolefins and additives and are largely focused on automotive applications. Engineered plastics and engineered composites add value for more specialized high-performance applications used across a variety of industries. Masterbatches are compounds that provide differentiated properties when combined with commodity plastics used in packaging, agriculture and durable goods applications. Specialty powders are largely used to mold toys, industrial tanks and sporting goods. Performance colors provide powdered, pelletized and liquid color concentrates for the plastics industry.
Sales & Marketing / Customers—The company’s products are sold through its regional sales organizations to a broad base of established customers and distributors. These products are transported to the company’s customers primarily by either truck or bulk rail.
Joint Venture Relationships—The company participates in several manufacturing joint ventures in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Thailand. The company holds majority interests and has operational control of the joint ventures in Indonesia. The company does not hold majority interests in any of the remaining joint ventures, nor do the company has operational control. These joint ventures provide the company with production capacity of approximately 70 thousand tons of compounding and solutions. These capacities are based on the company’s percentage ownership interest in the joint ventures’ total capacities.
Refining Segment
Overview—The primary products of the company’s Refining segment are refined products made from heavy, high-sulfur crude oil and other crude oils of varied types and sources available on the U.S. Gulf Coast. These refined products include gasoline and distillates.
Sales & Marketing / Customers—The Houston refinery’s products are primarily sold in bulk to other refiners, marketers, distributors and wholesalers at market-related prices. Most of the Houston refinery’s products are sold under contracts with a term of one year or less or are sold in the spot market. The Houston refinery’s products generally are transported to customers via pipelines and terminals owned and operated by other parties. The sales of refined products accounted for approximately 20% of the company’s consolidated revenues in 2024.
Raw Materials—The company’s Houston refinery, which is located on the Houston Ship Channel in Houston, Texas, has a crude oil processing capacity of approximately 268 thousand barrels per day on a calendar day basis (normal operating basis), or approximately 292 thousand barrels per day on a stream day basis (maximum achievable over a 24-hour period). The Houston refinery is a full conversion refinery designed to refine heavy, high-sulfur crude oil. This crude oil is more viscous and denser than traditional crude oil and contains higher concentrations of sulfur and heavy metals, making it more difficult to refine into gasoline and other high-value fuel products. The U.S. production is predominantly light sweet crude and much of the heavy crude used in production has generally been imported from Canada, Mexico and other global producers, and has at times been subject to supply disruptions.
The company purchases the crude oil used as a raw material for the Houston refinery on the open market on a spot basis and under a number of supply agreements with regional producers, generally with terms varying from three months to one year.
Other—In 2022 the company announced its plan to exit the refining business as it was determined to be the best strategic and financial path forward for the company. The company commenced shutdown activities in January 2025 and anticipates its refinery exit will be substantially completed in the first quarter of 2025.
Technology Segment
Overview—The company’s Technology segment develops and licenses chemical and polyolefin process technologies and manufactures and sells polyolefin catalysts. The company markets its process technologies and the company’s polyolefin catalysts to external customers and also use them in the company’s own manufacturing operations. Over the past three years, approximately 20% of the company’s catalyst sales were sold internally to other segments.
The company’s polyolefin process licenses are structured to provide a standard core technology, with individual customer needs met by adding customized modules that provide the required capabilities to produce the defined production grade slate and plant capacity. In addition to the basic license agreement, a range of services can also be provided, including project assistance, training, assistance in starting up the plant and ongoing technical support after start-up. The company may also offer marketing and sales services. In addition, licensees may continue to purchase polyolefin catalysts that are consumed in the production process, generally under long-term catalyst supply agreements with the company.
Intellectual Property
As of December 31, 2024, the company owned approximately 6,200 patents and patent applications worldwide.
Research and Development
In 2024, the company's research and development expenditures were $135 million.
History
LyondellBasell Industries N.V. was incorporated under Dutch law in 2009.
