Skip to main content

Sulphur 422 Jan-Feb 2026

29 January 2026

DOMO files for insolvency

GERMANY

DOMO files for insolvency

Three German subsidiaries of the Belgian chemical group DOMO Chemicals have filed for insolvency, following weak demand in the European chemicals sector, high energy costs and a significant increase in imports of polyamide resins from outside the European Union, in particular from China. Court appointed administrator Prof. Lucas F. Flöther said that day-to-day operations would continue for the time being. Around 585 employees are affected across the three companies; DOMO Chemicals GmbH and DOMO Caproleuna GmbH in Leuna and DOMO Engineering Plastics GmbH in Premnitz.

The DOMO Group, headquartered in Ghent, Belgium, manufactures and markets polymers, engineering plastics and high-performance fibres. It produces ammonium sulphate from caprolactam at DOMO Caproleuna with 420,000 t/a of AS capacity and sulphur consumption of up to 100,000 t/a. DOMO had already been running at reduced capacity, so the loss of AS supply and sulphur demand will be less but may still represent a significant shift if it does fully shut down.

Latest in Europe

SRU commissioned at Petrobrazi refinery

Romanian oil and gas group OMV Petrom has commissioned a new sulphur recovery unit at its Petrobrazi refinery, near the southern city of Ploiesti. Development work on the new SRU began in 2023, and represents the second at the site, treating acid gas produced during the refining process. The euro 45 million investment is part of euro 2 billion of improvements that have been made over the past 20 years as part of the company’s strategy to modernise its refining capabilities, aiming to reduce environmental impact. Last year, the company said it would invest around euro 750 million to build several sustainable fuel plants at the refinery, which are expected to become operational in 2028.

Clariant catalysts selected for waste-to-methanol plant

Clariant says it is collaborating in Repsol’s pioneering methanol plant in El Morell near Tarragona, Spain. The Ecoplanta project will be the first of its kind in Europe to convert municipal waste into renewable methanol, using Enerkem’s advanced waste gasification process, supported by a range of Clariant’s syngas purification catalysts and its highly active MegaMax methanol synthesis catalysts. Scheduled for completion in 2029, the plant will use 400,000 t/a of non-recyclable solid municipal waste to produce 240,000 t/a of methanol.