MOL Group Chemicals Pre K 2025 – Media Backgrounder

MOL Group's chemical activity in Hungary and Slovakia builds on decades of experience in producing high-quality polymers and base chemicals for industrial use. MOL Group Chemicals, along with the company's other business activities, is part of an integrated value chain that transforms crude oil into a range of refined products and petrochemicals.

Our long term strategy aims to shift from fuel-based operations toward higher-value petrochemical production and consumer services. This transformation is supported by our commitment to continuously modernize our existing assets and by allocating USD 1 billion in waste integration, recycling and medium-scale chemical investments.

MOL Group Introduction

MOL Group is a leading integrated Central and Eastern European oil and gas, and chemical corporation headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. It has operations in over 30 countries and employs 25,000 people worldwide. The company boasts close to 100 years of industry experience.

At MOL Group, we strive for a smart energy transition, delivering solutions for tomorrow: our strategic goal is to make our region more sustainable, more self-sufficient and more competitive. MOL Group was one of the first to recognize the need for coordinated industrial development and sustainability objectives to ensure the region’s competitiveness. We need to simultaneously strengthen the supply security and accelerate the green energy transition.

MOL has set out to spend USD 4+bn organic CAPEX on low-carbon and sustainable business projects until 2030. Our ambition is to become a highly efficient company, providing sustainable materials for the economy, low-carbon fuels for mobility and convenient products and services for the people on the move. We will be a leading player in the circular economy in Central and Eastern Europe, delivering solutions that shape tomorrow.

MOL Group is deeply rooted in Europe, and we remain committed to strengthening our presence in the region. This long-term commitment enhances circularity, secures domestic feedstock, and aligns with EU Green Deal ambitions. 

Key components of our integrated operations

MOL Group’s integrated business model enables the company to remain stable and reliable across all business areas— even when certain segments face tougher times due to external economic conditions.

Exploration and Production: Oil and gas exploration and production assets in 10 countries, yielding 95 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Natural Gas Transmission: MOL operates a nearly 6,000 km high-pressure natural gas transmission pipeline in Hungary, supplying gas distribution companies, power plants, and large industrial consumers.

Refining: Our refining operations are supported by 3 production sites with 17+ million tons of refined products:

• Danube Refinery in Hungary which is one of the largest refineries in Central and Eastern Europe.
• Bratislava Refinery in Slovakia
• Rijeka Refinery in Croatia

Consumer services: For 75 years, MOL Group’s Consumer Services business has been driven by fuel retailing, supported by strong refining, logistics, and a widespread network. With 10 million customers and 1.2 million daily transactions, we lead the CEE fuel retail market.

While fuel demand in CEE continues to grow, evolving technologies and consumer habits are reshaping the industry. Fossil fuels are expected to lose dominance by the next decade.

To stay ahead, MOL Group’s 2030 strategy focuses on transforming retail by expanding into new consumer demand areas and helping reinvent transportation in the region.

Key Facts and Figures:

• TOP 3 in 100% of the network
• In 10 countries
• 6 well established brands
• Over 2,300 petrol stations
• 65 million cups of coffee sold in 2024

Chemicals: Our chemical activity in Hungary and Slovakia has many decades of experience in producing polymers and base chemicals of competitive quality for industry.

Key production sites are:

• In Tiszaújváros, with significant capacities in ethylene, polymer, and butadiene production, recently expanded with a Polyol complex.
• In Bratislava production facilities for both propylene and ethylene.
• In Százhalombatta & Bratislava: with significant capacities in base chemicals products: aromatics, aliphatic, maleic anhydride, base oil and waxes.

Capacity: ~0,8 million tons of base chemicals, ~1,1 million tonnes of polyolefins, ~0,2 million tonnes of Polyether Polyols.

Strengths: Efficient assets with leading technologies, synergies between the sites, integrated and optimised feedstock supply.

MOL Group is the largest CE producer of key petrochemicals and the 6th in Europe by capacity. MOL has 4,3% market share in Europe (WE+CE) and 10,4 % market share in CE.

Circular economy services (CES): Through our integrated business model, which stands out as a unique approach in Europe, we address a crucial environmental challenge: waste management. Viewing waste as a valuable resource and energy source, we fortify our value chain and initiate the circular economy in the region.

MOL has been awarded a 35-year concession by the Hungarian state to provide municipal waste management services. The concession covers approximately 4.7 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) annually, out of Hungary’s total waste volume of around 20 million tons per year.

Our circular economy services business segment plays a key role in collecting plastic waste and transforming it into valuable feedstock.

Strategic goal: Up to 1.5 mn tons of feedstock for the energy industry by 2030 

• Petchem feedstock from plastic recycling
• Rubber compound feedstock from end-of-life tire utilisation
• Bio & alternative fuels feedstock from the utilisation of biodegradable waste
• Used Cooking Oil Collection feedstock to produce biodiesel from used cooking oil recycling
• Feedstock to produce energy from the utilisation of mixed waste

Investments – striving to produce products with higher added value

We believe in the future of the chemical industry here, which is reflected in our planned investments and our commitment to continuously modernising our existing assets. We are constantly striving to manufacture products with higher added value and to ensure the necessary raw materials for this. To support this vision, we are allocating 2+ billion USD for investments and planning a capacity increase of 400 kt p.a.

MA (maleic anhydride): Within our chemical product portfolio, we are set to double our MA capacity. This expansion by MOL Group Chemicals will enable us to meet approximately 15% of the European demand in this deficit market. Consequently, this will position us as the third-largest supplier in the European market, which has a total demand of 305 t. Maleic anhydride is mainly used in unsaturated polyester resins, adhesives and copolymers, with growing applications in biobased materials and biodegradable plastics to support sustainability.

Polyol & PG: The €1.3 billion project is MOL Group's largest organic investment to date, supported by the Hungarian state. The complex produces raw materials for durable plastic consumer goods such as bed mattresses, moulded car seats, insulation for houses, and elastic rubber soles for sports shoes. Utilizing advanced technology from Germany's Thyssenkrupp Uhde and Evonik, the plant is set to reach commercial-scale production with the first grades by the end of 2025, serving the polyurethane industry for decades to come.

The polyol project is a cornerstone of MOL Group’s long-term strategy to shift from fuel-based operations toward higher-value petrochemical production. It represents a forward integration into the propylene value chain, leveraging MOL’s existing infrastructure and refining capabilities to produce polyether polyols—key components in polyurethane manufacturing—and propylene glycol, which serves other industrial applications. This move aligns with MOL’s ambition to:

• Diversify away from commodity fuels and into specialty chemicals with more stable margins.
• Enhance vertical integration, from crude oil to high-value chemical products.
• Strengthen its competitive position in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), where MOL has a logistical and feedstock advantage
• Enter polyurethane manufacturing.

Olefin Conversion Unit: MOL Group is constructing a new Olefin Conversion Unit (OCU) at its petrochemical site in Tiszaújváros, Hungary. This greenfield investment is a strategic response to the growing internal demand for propylene, especially to support the feedstock needs of the adjacent polyol complex. The new unit, with a production capacity of 100,000 MTA of propylene, is expected to be completed in 2026. This will complement MOL's current propylene capacity of 440 KT.

PP3: MOL Group has invested a total of EUR 63 million in the expansion and modernisation of polypropylene production at the refinery of Slovnaft in Bratislava. The comprehensive reconstruction of the existing PP3 polypropylene production unit, which was carried out by the German company Linde Engineering, increased production capacity, reduced emissions, improved safety and brought greater attractiveness to customers. The annual production capacity of polypropylene, sold under the Tipplen and Tatren brand names, increased by 33,000 tonnes to 300,000 tonnes, while production of the most in-demand polypropylene grades was boosted. Slovnaft produces these in approximately 20 specifications.

Supporting European Sustainability Goals

MOL Group is actively working to help our partners achieve EU sustainability targets. We are committed to reducing CO₂ emissions and enhancing our competitiveness while supporting the industry's transition towards a more sustainable future. With our investments, we are making a significant contribution to the Group-level CO₂ reduction target:

• Like-for-like Scope 1&2 GHG emission reduction expectation increased to 33% from the previous target of 30%; GHG emission to decrease by 25% by 2030 in absolute terms

• MOL is committed to achieving 2050 net climate neutrality

• Absolute Scope 3 emissions will be reduced by 5% until 2030 (from 2022).

Energy efficiency combined with renewable energy sources:

• Solar Power: MOL is currently operating a 105 MWp solar power plant capacity in Hungary and Croatia, producing more than 130 GWh of renewable electricity on a yearly basis. Altogether, MOL Group is expected to consume up to ~2 500 GWh of renewable electricity by 2030.

• New Solar Park in Tiszaújváros: Expansion of green electricity production with a 48MWp solar power park, the largest in Hungary that directly connects to MOL’s petchem plants in Tiszaújváros; sunny hours, it can provide 30% of the electricity demand of the industrial site.

• Industrial Batteries: MOL is building a 40 MWh energy storage system in Tiszaújváros, essential for the smart transition. This project enhances energy supply stability and reliability, contributing to environmental protection and economic development. MOL plans to build several hundred MWh of storage systems in Hungary by 2030.

• Energy efficiency & electrification: Steam turbine electrification at MOL reduces greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, contributing to a healthier environment and mitigating climate change. It also leads to higher energy efficiency, fostering competitiveness through economic benefits and energy independence.

• Biomethane production & usage: The acquisition of the Szarvas Biogas plant enables MOL to integrate bio- methane into its value chain.

• Green Hydrogen: MOL has started green hydrogen production in 2024 with a 10 MW electrolyser capacity, the largest in Central and Eastern Europe, at the Danube refinery. Similar facilities are planned in Rijeka and in Bratislava.

We measure the impact of our sustainability projects and technological changes and incorporate this data into our Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) calculations, which for 2023 were independently audited by Bureau Veritas and show values close to the European averages.

Mechanical recycling

ReMat Zrt. acquisition (the biggest LDPE recycler of Hungary): the Hungarian market-leading plastics recycling company using commercial waste to create regranulates. Recently, Remat has also obtained Recyclass certification. Aligned with its strategic goal to become a leader in the low-carbon circular economy in CEE, MOL continues building a strong portfolio in the field of plastic recycling and waste integration.

Aurora acquisition: With the acquisition of Aurora Kunststoffe GmbH in Germany, MOL’s total capacity of recycled plastic material has increased to 40,000 tons per year, supplying mainly the automotive segment across Europe with predominantly post-industrial recyclate-based engineering plastic, and recycled polypropylene based compounds.

Chemical recycling

MOL collaborates with Lummus Technology to introduce chemical recycling technology in Hungary and Slovakia. This partnership allows us to integrate chemical recycling solutions into our petrochemical value chain and ensure that recycled polyolefins are identical to first-class materials and do not require additional regulatory approvals. The first plant will have a processing capacity of 40,000 tons of mixed waste plastics per annum and the design phase of the plant commenced in 2024.

Every Petrochemicals site has received the ISCC PLUS certificate and confirmed its readiness to use waste materials as raw material for plastics production processes. ISCC PLUS certification requires tracking the sustainability origin of raw materials throughout the value chain and ensures, among other things, supply chain transparency. It also serves as a guarantee for responsible production.

The success of both chemical and mechanical recycling hinges on having an adequate supply of highquality recyclable waste. This is why CES's, our waste management arm’s role in our value chain is crucial, as it manages waste across Hungary. We have developed a unique operational model that allows us to support waste management from the processing side. This collaboration ensures that the sorting process is optimised, enabling waste to be efficiently reintegrated into the circular economy and used in the production of new products. 

Reader enquiries

MOL Group
Október huszonharmadika u. 18.
1117 Budapest, Hungary
Hungary

+36 1 209 0000

www.molgroupchemicals.com

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