Carbios postpones construction of PET biorecycling facility in France

French green chemical company Carbios has announced that it will postpone the construction of its PET biorecycling plant in Longlaville by six to nine months due to funding delays, pending the completion of additional financing under satisfactory conditions. The company aims to complete financing as soon as possible to meet market demand from 2027 onwards. Carbios expects to sign several binding commercial contracts in the first half of 2025.

Carbios said the decision to postpone the construction of the plant will not have an impact on the project, but it does allow the company to slow down its cash burn and continue commercial negotiations in a cash-neutral manner. With the planned deferral of the Longlaville plant and tight control over spending, Carbios said it is “fully positioned to meet demand over the next 12 months.”

Philippe Pouletty, Carbios founder, chairman and interim CEO, commented: “To ensure the prudent execution of our strategy and safeguard our cash flow in a complex environment, we are deferring the construction of the plant in line with the expected timeline of public grants and the negotiation of necessary additional non-dilutive financing.”

In addition to the ongoing negotiations with Indorama Ventures, the company has held discussions with other private and public financial institutions to potentially finance the project on favourable terms.

As these discussions are currently under review, Carbios has received confirmation from the French Government, including Bpifrance, that it may receive support to initiate the assessment of its debt repayment request under the Guarantees for Strategic Projects (GPS) program, for which Carbios has qualified.