BERLIN, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Thyssenkrupp's subsidiary Industrial Solutions has secured a major order from the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL, the Essen-based industrial group announced on Wednesday.
Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions will receive the lion's share of the investment in a new chemical complex in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary for Budapest-based MOL totaling 1.2 billion euros (1.39 billion U.S. dollars). The plant is scheduled to become operational from 2021 onwards and produce 200,000 tons of polyether-polyol each year. The chemical is an important intermediate material for the automotive, construction and packaging industries.
"The new polyol complex is an important flagship project both for us and for our customer MOL and Hungary. Together we will set standards in terms of efficiency, environmental friendliness and automation by combining proven technologies with innovative solutions," a statement by Marcel Fasswald, chief operating officer (CFO) at Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions read.
Fasswald added that his unit looked "forward to our further cooperation" and expressed his pride in its ability "to contribute our decades of experience in chemical plant engineering and the handling of such major projects." According to Thyssenkrupp, the chemical complex will make fast-growing MOL the only integrated producer of polyether polyols in Central and Eastern Europe.
The MOL complex will consist of plants for the production of the necessary intermediates hydrogen peroxide and propylene oxide, several production lines for polyether polyols and propylene glycol as well as related supply infrastructure. Thyssenkrupp has been chosen by the partially-state owned company to construct the "turnkey plant complex" on a site covering around 550,000 square meters in total.
The international customer order announced is likely to lift hopes at Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions as a potential sign of improved prospects after a bruising start into the 2017/18 fiscal year.
Industrial Solutions has posted cumulative losses of 224 million euros during the past three quarters. The mother company Thyssenkrupp recorded overall quarterly losses of 131 million euros in the third quarter (Q3) of 2018, a development which it blamed on the underperformance of Industrial Solutions division.
After issuing a profit warning with view to anticipated costs overruns at the Industrial Solutions unit in July, Thyssenkrupp currently still expects total adjusted Earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) to come in at 1.8 billion in 2017/2018. Nevertheless, the German steel giant remains under heavy pressure from its second largest shareholder Cevian to break up the industrial behemoth into smaller and more profitable units.
