Pryme Trading Update                                                           
Rotterdam, October 29, 2024                                                     
     

Pryme lowers its capacity and production estimates for Pryme One, its first
production plant, and confirms the technical capabilities of its technology and
foresees additional funding needs.                                              
                                 

Pryme ("the Company") produced its first pyrolysis oil from its first plant
("Pryme One") in January 2024. Since that time the plant has been in operation
for more than 400 hours during which a total volume of 301 metric tons of
pyrolysis oil was produced. The main reasons for the low production to date have
been the slow feed rates of feedstock and short production runs. The low
production rates are a consequence of the deliberate focus of Pryme's
operational staff on learning from the early production runs rather than
maximizing production volumes although short bursts of high production rates
have been achieved. When production runs are short, significant time is lost in
the start-up and shutting down of the installation. The combined effect of short
runs at low production rates has resulted in a low total volume produced to
date. For reference, more than 30 production runs have taken place since January
2024. 

During this time Pryme has gained important insights into the Pryme One
installation. For perspective, the Pryme One facility contains proven and partly
standard components such as walking floors, conveyor systems, extruders,
reactors, condensation units, a thermal oxidizer and storage facilities with
some proprietary modifications. Following multiple improvements and changes, the
Company is satisfied that all the components of Pryme One are generally
functioning well and it believes that the overall technical setup is capable of
semi-continuous production for the conversion of plastic waste feedstock into
pyrolysis oil. As a sign of a good industrial process, the char or ash produced
is dry and free of hydrocarbons and we have not experienced higher than
anticipated levels of waxing or fouling of the installation. The oil produced is
of a general quality that our existing and potential customers can accept in
this phase of early production. 

Based on operational experience to date, Pryme has lowered the overall
production plan expectations of the Pryme One installation for the next 12
months. The main reasons for the new lower estimated overall Pryme One
production rate are related to the overall process layout and the oil yield
levels. As stated earlier, Pryme One has a semi-continuous process where all
steps in the process are designed for continuous operation except for the
reactor feeding and the dumping of char/ash. Operational experience to date
indicates more downtime for reactor feeding and equipment maintenance and
cleaning and hence a lower plant availability than previously assumed. We now
estimate that the annual feedstock intake of the Pryme One plant will be around
26,000 metric tons rather than the 40,000 metric tons earlier assumed. Also, we
estimate lower oil yields from the feedstock. The yield was originally estimated
at 75%. We now expect the feedstock to pyrolysis oil yield to be around 65%
initially, with higher yields to be achieved through the optimization and
fine-tuning of the Pryme One reactor train over time. Consequently, the revised
production capacity of Pryme One is estimated to initially be some 16,700 metric
tons of pyrolysis oil per annum. The Company is not able at this time to
estimate to what extent this lower estimated production capacity of the Pryme
One reactor train could affect future Pryme plants. 

To date, the production at Pryme One has ramped up at a slower rate than
originally anticipated. It will therefore take longer to reach the revised full
capacity of the plant. The Company now estimates that production rates at or
near the revised plant capacity for Pryme One will be reached in the last
quarter of 2025 when Pryme One is expected to operate at cash-breakeven levels. 

The estimated reduction in plant capacity and the delayed ramp up of production
is expected to have a negative impact on Pryme's financial performance,
particularly its short-term cash flow. This will lead to lower cash flows than
originally estimated for the next quarters. Consequently, the Company will seek
additional funding in the range of EUR6-10 million with the target timing for
completion of such funding to be no later than in Q1 2025.
 
Other updates 
As a preview of the quarterly report for the third quarter of 2024