Axens to acquire Air Liquide’s methanol-to-olefins technology portfolio

With most MTO capacity tied to regions where coal or stranded-gas methanol is cheap, will Axens pair this with low carbon methanol to make the economics and carbon intensity competitive with ethane crackers? Also, does the deal include catalyst supply and performance guarantees, since SAPO-34 life and coke management drive much of the OPEX we feel downstream in adhesive resins.

Big question is what happens to existing Lurgi MTO/MTP licensees: will Axens maintain SAPO-34 supply and regenerator/quench internals as-is, or are we looking at requals and revamps? We’ve fought fines carryover and coking for years - continuity on catalyst specs and spares makes or breaks uptime.