Producer
CEPSA Química
European leader in linear alkylbenzene (LAB) and LABSA production; ~18% global LAB market share. Operated by CEPSA (Compañía Española de Petróleos), owned by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) and The Carlyle Group. Huelva, Spain plant is the largest single LAB production site in Europe.
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Inputs supplied
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Goods downstream
3
Facilities
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Stories
What they make
1 input CEPSA Química supplies
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Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something CEPSA Química makes — pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
3 facilities
CEPSA Química Huelva LAB Complex →
ESPuente Mayorga, San Roque, Cádiz (NOT Huelva) · linear alkylbenzene manufacturing
Largest single LAB production complex in Europe; integrated with Huelva petrochemical cluster. Produces linear alkylbenzene (LAB) which is then sulfonated to LABSA — the primary active ingredient in laundry and dish detergents worldwide. ~18% global LAB market share from this single geographic hub.
CEPSA/Moeve Bécancour LAB Plant (Quebec) →
CABécancour, Centre-du-Québec · chemical_plant
First Detal-process LAB plant ever built (1995); 120,000 MT/year capacity. CEPSA built the world's first commercial Detal plant here before retrofitting its own San Roque plant. Located on the south bank of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec; serves North American LAB market.
CEPSA/Moeve San Roque LAB Plant (Puente Mayorga, Cadiz) →
ESPuente Mayorga, San Roque, Cádiz, Andalusia · chemical_plant
World's first LAB plant to convert from liquid HF alkylation to Honeywell UOP's Detal solid-acid catalyst technology (€100M investment, announced 2018; completed ~2020-2021). Post-conversion capacity: 250,000 MT/year (up from 200,000 MT). Emissions cut by 1,100 t/year; water savings 80,000 m³/year. CESIO 2019 named this 'unique plant worldwide.' Located near Gibraltar, not Huelva (common geographic confusion since both are Andalusia). The technical HF→Detal conversion here is the proof-of-concept for all future LAB plant upgrades globally.
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map — where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Linear Alkylbenzene (LAB) and LABSA
70%Phenol and Acetone
15%Alkylate and Aviation Chemicals
15%
Intelligence
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Concentration2018
CEPSA Química (now rebranded as Moeve Chemicals, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company subsidiary) holds ~18% of global LAB market share from three continents — yet its competitive advantage is not scale but technology: CEPSA's Detal solid-acid catalyst process is used in MORE THAN 80% of all new LAB plants built worldwide. CEPSA simultaneously competes against and licenses to its competitors. The San Roque (Puente Mayorga) plant was the world's first to convert from liquid hydrofluoric acid (HF) alkylation to Detal technology — eliminating one of the most hazardous industrial chemicals from the world's most important surfactant supply chain.
Honeywell / UOP ↗Did you know2023
CEPSA (Compañia Espanola de Petroleos) was founded in 1929 as Spain's first private oil company, using Venezuelan crude oil from Gulf Oil's Mene Grande field in the Maracaibo basin. Post-Franco Spain, CEPSA was partially privatized; in 2011, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund (now TAQA, part of ADQ) acquired a majority stake. The Carlyle Group (US private equity) later acquired a minority interest. This ownership structure means the primary European linear alkylbenzene supplier — whose LAB becomes the cleaning agent in most European laundry detergents — is owned by Abu Dhabi state capital and American private equity. The same Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth that funds the petrochemical production of oil (through ADNOC) also owns the downstream chemical company that converts that oil into the surfactant that cleans clothes in Berlin and Milan. Mideast oil from Abu Dhabi flows through CEPSA's Spanish facility to become European laundry detergent.
CEPSA (Compania Espanola de Petroleos) ↗