Clarian shuts down sunliquid bioethanol plant in Romania

In Romania, Clariant announced its decision to shut down its sunliquid bioethanol production in Podari, Romania, and to downsize related activities of the business line Biofuels & Derivatives in Germany (Straubing, Planegg and Munich). 

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.