Global specialty chemical company Clariant is shutting down its sunliquid® bioethanol production plant in Podari, Romania, and downsizing related activities of its Biofuels & Derivatives division in Germany.

After developing the sunliquid® technology, Clariant had taken 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 2023, Clariant started a strategic evaluation of the options for the plant after it became clear that the plant did not achieve Clariant’s targeted operational parameters.

Clariant management has concluded that, given continued losses, the economics of the plant in Podari cannot justify for Clariant to continue ramp up which would require significant additional capital expenditure. Following today’s announcement, activities within the business line Biofuels & Derivatives that supported the development and ramp-up of the plant will be downsized. Required capabilities to maintain the technology and to fulfill existing contractual obligations will be kept.

In June 2022, Clariant had announced the first commercial cellulosic ethanol had been produced at the sunliquid® plant and that they had signed a multi-year agreement with Shell to supply the product. It was reported to supply approximately 50,000 tons of second-generation biofuels derived from 250,000 tons of locally sourced agricultural residues, primarily in the form of straw.