LyondellBasell Industries 10-K 2020-12-31

Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

OR

For the transition period from to

Commission file number: 001-34726

LyondellBasell Industries N.V.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

(Registrant’s telephone numbers, including area codes)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. þ Yes ¨ No

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. ¨ Yes þ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. þ Yes ¨ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). þ Yes ¨ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). ☐ Yes ☑ No

The aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant on June 30, 2020, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, based on the closing price on that date of $65.72, was $16.8 billion. For purposes of this disclosure, in addition to the registrant’s executive officers and members of its Board of Directors, the registrant has included Access Industries, LLC and its affiliates as “affiliates.”

The registrant had 334,132,558 shares outstanding at February 23, 2021 (excluding 5,913,070 treasury shares).

Documents incorporated by reference:

Portions of the 2021 Proxy Statement, in connection with the Company’s 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (in Part III), as indicated herein.

Table of Contents

Showing the first 8K of 76K characters. Open the full section

You should carefully consider the following risk factors in addition to the other information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Each of these risk factors could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition, as well as adversely affect the value of an investment in our common stock.

Risks Related to our Business and Industry

The cyclicality and volatility of the industries in which we participate may cause significant fluctuations in our operating results.

Our business operations are subject to the cyclical and volatile nature of the supply-demand balance in the chemical and refining industries. Our future operating results are expected to continue to be affected by this cyclicality and volatility. The chemical and refining industries historically have experienced alternating periods of capacity shortages, causing prices and profit margins to increase, followed by periods of excess capacity, resulting in oversupply, declining capacity utilization rates and declining prices and profit margins.

In addition to changes in the supply and demand for products, changes in energy prices and other worldwide economic conditions can cause volatility. These factors result in significant fluctuations in profits and cash flow from period to period and over business cycles.

New capacity additions around the world may lead to periods of oversupply and lower profitability. The timing and extent of any changes to currently prevailing market conditions are uncertain and supply and demand may be unbalanced at any time. As a consequence, we are unable to accurately predict the extent or duration of future industry cycles or their effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

A sustained decrease in the price of crude oil may adversely impact the results of our operations, primarily in North America.

Energy costs generally follow price trends of crude oil and natural gas. These price trends may be highly volatile and cyclical. In the past, raw material and energy costs have experienced significant fluctuations that adversely affected our business segments’ results of operations. For example, we have benefited from the favorable ratio of U.S. crude oil prices to natural gas prices in the past. If the price of crude oil remains lower relative to U.S. natural gas prices or if the demand for natural gas and NGLs increases, this may have a negative impact on our results of operations.

Costs and limitations on supply of raw materials and energy may result in increased operating expenses.

The costs of raw materials and energy represent a substantial portion of our operating expenses. Due to the significant competition we face and the commodity nature of many of our products we are not always able to pass on raw material and energy cost increases to our customers. When we do have the ability to pass on the cost increases, we are not always able to do so quickly enough to avoid adverse impacts on our results of operations.

Table of Contents

Cost increases for raw materials also may increase working capital needs, which could reduce our liquidity and cash flow. Even if we increase our sales prices to reflect rising raw material and energy costs, demand for products may decrease as customers reduce their consumption or use substitute products, which may have an adverse impact on our results of operations. In addition, producers in natural gas cost-advantaged regions, such as the Middle East and North America, benefit from the lower prices of natural gas and NGLs. Competition from producers in these regions may cause us to reduce exports from Europe and elsewhere. Any such reductions may increase competition for product sales within Europe and other markets, which can result in lower margins in those regions.

For some of our raw materials and utilities there are a limited number of suppliers and, in some cases, the supplies are specific to the particular geographic region in which a facility is located. It is also common in the chemical and refining industries for a facility to have a sole, dedicated source for its utilities, such as steam, electricity and gas. Having a sole or limited number of suppliers may limit our negotiating power, particularly in the case of rising raw material costs. Any new supply agreements we enter into may not have terms as favorable as those contained in our current supply agreements.

Additionally, there is growing concern over the reliability of water sources, including around the U.S. Gulf Coast where several of our facilities are located. The decreased availability or less favorable pricing for water as a result of population growth, drought or regulation could negatively impact our operations, including by impacting our ability to produce or transport our products.

If our raw material or utility supplies were disrupted, our businesses may incur increased costs to procure alternative supplies or incur excessive downtime, which would have a negative impact on plant operations. Disruptions of supplies may occur as a result of transportation issues resulting from natural disasters, water levels, and interruptions in marine water routes, among other causes, that can affect the operations of vessels, barges, rails, trucks and pipeline traffic. These risks are particularly prevalent in the U.S. Gulf Coast area. Additionally, increasing exports of NGLs and crude oil from the U.S. or greater restrictions on hydraulic fracturing could restrict the availability of our raw materials, thereby increasing our costs.

With increased volatility in raw material costs, our suppliers could impose more onerous terms on us, resulting in shorter payment cycles and increasing our working capital requirements.

Our ability to source raw materials may be adversely affected by political instability, civil disturbances or other governmental actions.

We obtain a portion of our principal raw materials from sources in the Middle East and Central and South America that may be less politically stable than other areas in which we conduct business. Political instability, civil disturbances and actions by governments in these areas are more likely to substantially increase the price and decrease the supply of raw materials necessary for our operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Incidents of civil unrest, including terrorist attacks and demonstrations that have been marked by violence, have occurred in a number of countries in the Middle East and South America. Some political regimes in these countries are threatened or have changed as a result of such unrest. Political instability and civil unrest could continue to spread in the region and involve other areas. Such unrest, if it continues to spread or grow in intensity, could lead to civil wars, regional conflicts or regime changes resulting in governments that are hostile to countries in which we conduct substantial business, such as in the U.S., Europe or their respective trading partners.

Our business is capital intensive and we rely on cash generated from operations and external financing to fund our growth and ongoing capital needs. Limitations on access to external financing could adversely affect our operating results.

We require significant capital to operate our current business and fund our growth strategy. Moreover, interest payments, dividends and the expansion of our current business or other business opportunities may require significant amounts of capital. We believe that our cash from operations currently will be sufficient to meet these

Table of Contents

needs. However, if we need external financing, our access to credit markets and pricing of our capital is dependent upon maintaining sufficient credit ratings from credit rating agencies and the state of the capital markets generally. There can be no assurances that we would be able to incur indebtedness on terms we deem acceptable, and it is possible that the cost of any financings could increase significantly, thereby increasing our expenses and decreasing our net income. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow or raise adequate external financing, including as a result of significant disruptions in the global credit markets, we could be forced to restrict our operations and growth opportunities, which could adversely affect our operating results.

We may use our $2.5 billion revolving credit facility, which backs our commercial paper program, to meet our cash needs, to the extent available. As of December 31, 2020, we had no borrowings or letters of credit outstanding under the facility and $500 million, net of discount, outstanding under our commercial paper program, leaving an unused and available credit capacity of $2,020 million. We may also meet our cash needs by selling receivables under our $900 million U.S. Receivables Facility. As of December 31, 2020, subject to a borrowing base of eligible receivables, we had availability of $757 million under this facility. In the event of a default under our credit facility or any of our senior notes, we could be required to immediately repay all outstanding borrowings and make cash deposits as collateral for all obligations the facility supports, which we may not be able to do. Any default under any of our credit arrangements could cause a default under many of our other credit agreements and debt instruments. Without waivers from lenders party to those agreements, any such default could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue to operate.

Risks Related to our Operations

Our operations are subject to risks inherent in chemical and refining businesses, and we could be subject to liabilities for which we are not fully insured or that are not otherwise mitigated.

We maintain property, business interruption, product, general liability, casualty and other types of insurance that we believe are appropriate for our business and operations as well as in line with industry practices. However, we are not fully insured against all potential hazards incident to our business, including losses resulting from natural disasters, wars or terrorist acts. Changes in insurance market conditions have caused, and may in the future cause, premiums and deductibles for certain insurance policies to increase substantially and, in some instances, for certain insurance to become unavailable or available only for reduced amounts of coverage. If we were to incur a significant liability for which we were not fully insured, we might not be able to finance the amount of the uninsured liability on terms acceptable to us or at all, and might be obligated to divert a significant portion of our cash flow from normal business operations.

Our business, including our results of operations and reputation, could be adversely affected by safety or product liability issues.

Failure to appropriately manage safety, human health, product liability and environmental risks associated with our products, product life cycles and production processes could adversely impact employees, communities, stakeholders, our reputation and our results of operations. Public perception of the risks associated with our products and production processes could impact product acceptance and influence the regulatory environment in which we operate. While we have procedures and controls to manage safety risks, issues could be created by events outside of our control, including natural disasters, severe weather events and acts of sabotage.

Further, because a part of our business involves licensing polyolefin process technology, our licensees are exposed to similar risks involved in the manufacture and marketing of polyolefins. Hazardous incidents involving our licensees, if they do result or are perceived to result from use of our technologies, may harm our reputation, threaten our relationships with other licensees and/or lead to customer attrition and financial losses. Our policy of covering these risks through contractual limitations of liability and indemnities and through insurance may not always be effective. As a result, our financial condition and results of operation would be adversely affected, and other companies with competing technologies may have the opportunity to secure a competitive advantage.

Table of Contents

Interruptions of operations at our facilities may result in increased liabilities or lower operating results.

We own and operate large-scale facilities. Our operating results are dependent on the continued operation of our various production facilities and the ability to complete construction and maintenance projects on schedule. Interruptions at our facilities may materially reduce the productivity and profitability of a particular manufacturing facility, or our business as a whole, during and after the period of such operational difficulties. In recent years, we have had to shut down plants on the U.S. Gulf Coast, including the temporary shutdown of a portion of our Houston refinery, as a result of various hurricanes striking Texas and Louisiana. In addition, because the Houston refinery is our only refining operation, an outage at the refinery could have a particularly negative impact on our operating results as we do not have the ability to increase refining production elsewhere.

Although we take precautions to enhance the safety of our operations and minimize the risk of disruptions, our operations are subject to hazards inherent in chemical manufacturing and refining and the related storage and transportation of raw materials, products and wastes. These potential hazards include:

• pipeline leaks and ruptures;

• explosions;

• fires;

• severe weather and natural disasters;

• mechanical failure;

• unscheduled downtimes;

• supplier disruptions;

• labor shortages or other labor difficulties;

• transportation interruptions;

• remediation complications;

• increased restrictions on, or the unavailability of, water for use at our manufacturing sites or for the transport of our products or raw materials;

• chemical and oil spills;

• discharges or releases of toxic or hazardous substances or gases;

• shipment of incorrect or off-specification product to customers;

• storage tank leaks;

• other environmental risks; and

• terrorist acts.

Some of these hazards may cause severe damage to or destruction of property and equipment or personal injury and loss of life and may result in suspension of operations or the shutdown of affected facilities.

Large capital projects can take many years to complete, and market conditions could deteriorate significantly between the project approval date and the project startup date, negatively impacting project returns. If we are unable to complete capital projects at their expected costs and in a timely manner, or if the market conditions assumed in our project economics deteriorate, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

Table of Contents

Delays or cost increases related to capital spending programs involving engineering, procurement and construction of facilities could materially adversely affect our ability to achieve forecasted internal rates of return and operating results. For example, higher costs arising from the delayed construction of our world-scale PO/TBA plant in Houston, due to COVID-19, more extensive civil construction, and unexpected tariffs on materials are expected to add approximately 40 to 50% to our original cost estimate for the project, impacting our projected rate of return on the project. Delays in making required changes or upgrades to our facilities could subject us to fines or penalties as well as affect our ability to contract with our customers and supply certain products we produce. Such delays or cost increases may arise as a result of unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:

• denial of or delay in receiving requisite regulatory approvals and/or permits;

• unplanned increases in the cost of construction materials or labor;

• disruptions in transportation of components or construction materials;

• adverse weather conditions, natural disasters or other events (such as equipment malfunctions, explosions, fires or spills) affecting our facilities, or those of vendors or suppliers;

• shortages of sufficiently skilled labor, or labor disagreements resulting in unplanned work stoppages; and

• nonperformance by, or disputes with, vendors, suppliers, contractors or subcontractors.

Any one or more of these factors could have a significant impact on our ongoing capital projects. If we were unable to make up the delays associated with such factors or to recover the related costs, or if market conditions change, it could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Shared control or lack of control of joint ventures may delay decisions or actions regarding our joint ventures.

A portion of our operations are conducted through joint ventures, where control may be exercised by or shared with unaffiliated third parties. We cannot control the actions of our joint venture partners, including any nonperformance, default or bankruptcy of joint venture partners. The joint ventures that we do not control may also lack financial reporting systems to provide adequate and timely information for our reporting purposes.

Our joint venture partners may have different interests or goals than we do and may take actions contrary to our requests, policies or objectives. Differences in views among the joint venture participants also may result in delayed decisions or in failures to agree on major matters, potentially adversely affecting the business and operations of the joint ventures and in turn our business and operations. We may develop a dispute with any of our partners over decisions affecting the venture that may result in litigation, arbitration or some other form of dispute resolution. If a joint venture participant acts contrary to our interest, it could harm our brand, business, results of operations and financial condition.

We may be required to record material charges against our earnings due to any number of events that could cause impairments to our assets.

We may be required to reduce production or idle facilities for extended periods of time or exit certain businesses as a result of the cyclical nature of our industry. Specifically, oversupplies of or lack of demand for particular products or high raw material prices may cause us to reduce production. We may choose to reduce production at certain facilities because we have off-take arrangements at other facilities, which make any reductions or idling unavailable at those facilities. Any decision to permanently close facilities or exit a business would likely result in impairment and other charges to earnings. For example, in the third quarter of 2020, our Refining segment recognized a non-cash impairment charge of $582 million related to our Houston refinery driven by the expectation of a prolonged reduction in travel and associated transportation fuels consumption resulting from the pandemic which created an oversupply in global fuel markets that will pressure refining profitability for an extended period of time.

Table of Contents

Temporary outages at our facilities can last for several quarters and sometimes longer. These outages could cause us to incur significant costs, including the expenses of maintaining and restarting these facilities. In addition, we have significant obligations under take-or-pay agreements. Even though we may reduce production at facilities, we may be required to continue to purchase or pay for utilities or raw materials under these arrangements.

Integration of acquisitions could disrupt our business and harm our financial condition and stock price.

We have made and may continue to make acquisitions in order to enhance our business. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including meeting our standards for compliance, problems combining the purchased operations, technologies or products, unanticipated costs and liabilities, diversion of management’s attention from our core businesses, and potential loss of key employees.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to integrate successfully any businesses, products, technologies, or personnel that we might acquire. The integration of businesses that we may acquire is likely to be a complex, time-consuming, and expensive process and we may not realize the anticipated revenues, synergies, or other benefits associated with our acquisitions if we do not manage and operate the acquired business up to our expectations. If we are unable to efficiently operate as a combined organization utilizing common information and communication systems, operating procedures, financial controls, and human resources practices, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected.

Risks related to the Global Economy and Multinational Operations

Economic disruptions and downturns in general, and particularly continued global economic uncertainty or economic turmoil in emerging markets, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, operating results, financial condition and cash flows.

Our results of operations can be materially affected by adverse conditions in the financial markets and depressed economic conditions generally. Economic downturns in the businesses and geographic areas in which we sell our products could substantially reduce demand for our products and result in decreased sales volumes and increased credit risk. Recessionary environments adversely affect our business because demand for our products is reduced, particularly from our customers in industrial markets generally and the automotive and housing industries specifically, and may result in higher costs of capital. A significant portion of our revenues and earnings are derived from our business in Europe. In addition, most of our European transactions and assets, including cash reserves and receivables, are denominated in euros.

We also derive significant revenues from our business in emerging markets, particularly the emerging markets in Asia and South America. Any broad-based downturn in these emerging markets, or in a key market such as China, could require us to reduce export volumes into these markets and could also require us to divert product sales to less profitable markets. Any of these conditions could ultimately harm our overall business, prospects, operating results, financial condition and cash flows.

We sell products in highly competitive global markets and face significant price pressures.

We sell our products in highly competitive global markets. Due to the commodity nature of many of our products, competition in these markets is based primarily on price and, to a lesser extent, on product performance, product quality, product deliverability, reliability of supply and customer service. Often, we are not able to protect our market position for these products by product differentiation and may not be able to pass on cost increases to our customers due to the significant competition in our business.

In addition, we face increased competition from companies that may have greater financial resources and different cost structures or strategic goals than us. These include large integrated oil companies (some of which also have chemical businesses), government-owned businesses, and companies that receive subsidies or other government incentives to produce certain products in a specified geographic region. Continuing competition from these companies, especially in our olefin and refining businesses, could limit our ability to increase product sales prices in

Table of Contents

response to raw material and other cost increases, or could cause us to reduce product sales prices to compete effectively, which would reduce our profitability. Competitors with different cost structures or strategic goals than we have may be able to invest significant capital into their businesses, including expenditures for research and development. In addition, specialty products we produce may become commoditized over time. Increased competition could result in lower prices or lower sales volumes, which would have a negative impact on our results of operations.

We operate internationally and are subject to exchange rate fluctuations, exchange controls, political risks and other risks relating to international operations.

We operate internationally and are subject to the risks of doing business on a global level. These risks include fluctuations in currency exchange rates, economic instability and disruptions, restrictions on the transfer of funds and the imposition of trade restrictions or duties and tariffs, and complex regulations concerning privacy and data security. Additional risks from our multinational business include transportation delays and interruptions, war, terrorist activities, epidemics, pandemics, political instability, import and export controls, sanctions, changes in governmental policies, labor unrest and current and changing regulatory environments.

We generate revenues from export sales and operations that may be denominated in currencies other than the relevant functional currency. Exchange rates between these currencies and functional currencies in recent years have fluctuated significantly and may do so in the future. It is possible that fluctuations in exchange rates will result in reduced operating results. Additionally, we operate with the objective of having our worldwide cash available in the locations where it is needed, including the United Kingdom for our parent company’s significant cash obligations as a result of dividend payments. It is possible that we may not always be able to provide cash to other jurisdictions when needed or that such transfers of cash could be subject to additional taxes, including withholding taxes.

Our operating results could be negatively affected by the laws, rules and regulations, as well as political environments, in the jurisdictions in which we operate. There could be reduced demand for our products, decreases in the prices at which we can sell our products and disruptions of production or other operations. Trade protection measures such as quotas, duties, tariffs, safeguard measures or anti-dumping duties imposed in the countries in which we operate could negatively impact our business. Additionally, there may be substantial capital and other costs to comply with regulations and/or increased security costs or insurance premiums, any of which could reduce our operating results.

We obtain a portion of our principal raw materials from international sources that are subject to these same risks. Our compliance with applicable customs, currency exchange control regulations, transfer pricing regulations or any other laws or regulations to which we may be subject could be challenged. Furthermore, these laws may be modified, the result of which may be to prevent or limit subsidiaries from transferring cash to us.

Furthermore, we are subject to certain existing, and may be subject to possible future, laws that limit or may limit our activities while some of our competitors may not be subject to such laws, which may adversely affect our competitiveness.

Changes in tax laws and regulations could affect our tax rate and our results of operations.

We are a tax resident in the United Kingdom and are subject to the United Kingdom corporate income tax system. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. has little or no taxable income of its own because, as a holding company, it does not conduct any operations. Through our subsidiaries, we have substantial operations world-wide. Taxes are primarily paid on the earnings generated in various jurisdictions where our subsidiaries operate, including the U.S., The Netherlands, Germany, France and Italy.

There continues to be increased attention to the tax practices of multinational companies, including the European Union’s state aid investigations, proposals by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development with respect to base erosion and profit shifting, and European Union tax directives and their implementation. Management does not believe that recent changes in income tax laws will have a material impact on our business,

Table of Contents

financial condition, or results of operations, although new or proposed changes to tax laws could affect our tax liabilities in the future.

Risks Related to Health, Safety, and the Environment

We cannot predict with certainty the extent of future costs under environmental, health and safety and other laws and regulations, and cannot guarantee they will not be material.

We may face liability arising out of the normal course of business, including alleged personal injury or property damage due to exposure to chemicals or other hazardous substances at our current or former facilities or chemicals that we manufacture, handle or own. In addition, because our products are components of a variety of other end-use products, we, along with other members of the chemical industry, are subject to potential claims related to those end-use products. Any substantial increase in the success of these types of claims could negatively affect our operating results.

We are subject to extensive national, regional, state and local environmental laws, regulations, directives, rules and ordinances concerning:

• emissions to the air;

• discharges onto land or surface waters or into groundwater; and

• the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment, disposal and remediation of hazardous substances and waste materials.

Many of these laws and regulations provide for substantial fines and potential criminal sanctions for violations. Some of these laws and regulations are subject to varying and conflicting interpretations. In addition, some of these laws and regulations require us to meet specific financial responsibility requirements. Any substantial liability for environmental damage could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Although we have compliance programs and other processes intended to ensure compliance with all such regulations, we are subject to the risk that our compliance with such regulations could be challenged. Non-compliance with certain of these regulations could result in the incurrence of additional costs, penalties or assessments that could be material.

Our industry is subject to extensive government regulation, and existing, or future regulations may restrict our operations, increase our costs of operations or require us to make additional capital expenditures.

Compliance with regulatory requirements will result in higher operating costs, such as regulatory requirements relating to emissions, the security of our facilities, and the transportation, export or registration of our products. We generally expect that regulatory controls worldwide will become increasingly more demanding, but cannot accurately predict future developments.

Increasingly strict environmental laws and inspection and enforcement policies, could affect the handling, manufacture, use, emission or disposal of products, other materials or hazardous and non-hazardous waste. Stricter environmental, safety and health laws, regulations and enforcement policies could result in increased operating costs or capital expenditures to comply with such laws and regulations. Additionally, we are required to have permits for our businesses and are subject to licensing regulations. These permits and licenses are subject to renewal, modification and in some circumstances, revocation. Further, the permits and licenses are often difficult, time consuming and costly to obtain and could contain conditions that limit our operations.

Table of Contents

We may incur substantial costs to comply with climate change legislation and related regulatory initiatives.

There has been a broad range of proposed or promulgated international, national and state laws focusing on greenhouse gas (“GHG”) reduction. These proposed or promulgated laws apply or could apply in countries where we have interests or may have interests in the future. Laws and regulations in this field continue to evolve and, while they are likely to be increasingly widespread and stringent, at this stage it is not possible to accurately estimate either a timetable for implementation or our future compliance costs relating to implementation. Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed to undertake ambitious efforts to reduce GHG emissions and strengthen adaptation to the effects of climate change. In February 2021, the U.S. recommitted to the Agreement after having withdrawn in August 2017. Other regions in which we operate, including, in particular, the European Union, are preparing national legislation and protection plans to implement their emission reduction commitments under the Agreement. In December 2020, European Union leadership agreed to cut GHG emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030, a step toward achieving the European Union’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. These actions could result in increased cost of purchased energy and increased costs of compliance for impacted locations.

Our operations in Europe participate in the European Union Emissions Trading System (“ETS”) and we purchase annual emission allowances to meet our obligations. In light of changes resulting from the commencement of ETS Phase IV in 2021, we expect to incur additional costs in relation to future carbon or GHG emission trading schemes.

In the U.S., the EPA promulgated federal GHG regulations under the Clean Air Act affecting certain sources. The EPA issued mandatory GHG reporting requirements, requirements to obtain GHG permits for certain industrial plants and GHG performance standards for some facilities. Although the EPA recently scaled back certain GHG requirements, addressing climate change is a stated priority of President Biden and as such additional regulations and legislation are likely to be forthcoming at the U.S. federal or state level that could result in increased operating costs for compliance, or required acquisition or trading of emission allowances. Additionally, demand for the products we produce may be reduced.

Compliance with these regulations may result in increased permitting necessary for the operation of our business or for any of our growth plans. Difficulties in obtaining such permits could have an adverse effect on our future growth. Therefore, any future potential regulations and legislation could result in additional operating restrictions or delays in implementing growth projects or other capital investments, and could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Legislation and regulatory initiatives could lead to a decrease in demand for our products.

New or revised governmental regulations and independent studies relating to the effect of our products on health, safety and the environment may affect demand for our products and the cost of producing our products. Initiatives by governments and private interest groups will potentially require increased toxicological testing and risk assessments of a wide variety of chemicals, including chemicals used or produced by us. For example, in the United States, the National Toxicology Program (“NTP”) is a federal interagency program that seeks to identify and select for study chemicals and other substances to evaluate potential human health hazards. In the European Union, the Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (“REACH”) is regulation designed to identify the intrinsic properties of chemical substances, assess hazards and risks of the substances, and identify and implement the risk management measures to protect humans and the environment.

Assessments under NTP, REACH or similar programs or regulations in other jurisdictions may result in heightened concerns about the chemicals we use or produce and may result in additional requirements being placed on the production, handling, labeling or use of those chemicals. Such concerns and additional requirements could also increase the cost incurred by our customers to use our chemical products and otherwise limit the use of these products, which could lead to a decrease in demand for these products. Such a decrease in demand could have an adverse impact on our business and results of operations.

Table of Contents

The physical impacts of climate change can negatively impact our facilities and operations.

Potential physical impacts of climate change include increased frequency and severity of hurricanes and floods as well as drought conditions, and global sea level rise. Although we have preparedness plans in place designed to minimize impacts and enhance safety, should an event occur, it could have the potential to disrupt our supply chain and operations. A number of our facilities are located on the Gulf Coast, which has been impacted by hurricanes that have required us to temporarily shut down operations at those sites. In addition, our sites rely on rivers for transportation that may experience restrictions in times of drought or other unseasonal weather variation.

Increased regulation or deselection of plastic could lead to a decrease in demand growth for some of our products.

There is a growing concern with the accumulation of plastic, including microplastics, and other packaging waste in the environment. Additionally, plastics have recently faced increased public backlash and scrutiny. Policy measures to address this concern are being discussed or implemented by governments at all levels. In 2019, the international treaty governing transboundary shipments of waste, the Basel Convention, was amended to clarify its applicability to plastic waste. The European Commission has been undertaking a series of actions under its Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy, including adoption of the Single Use Plastics Directive in 2019, which introduced policy measures for single use plastics including bans, product design requirements, extended producer responsibility obligations, and labeling requirements. Member states are required to transpose these measures into national law by July 2021. In addition, a host of single-use plastic bans and taxes have been passed by countries around the world and counties and municipalities throughout the U.S. Increased regulation of, or prohibition on, the use of certain plastic products could increase the costs incurred by our customers to use such products or otherwise limit the use of these products, and could lead to a decrease in demand for PE, PP, and other products we make. Such a decrease in demand could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

General Risk Factors

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic could continue to materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic spread to countries worldwide and resulted in governments and other authorities implementing numerous measures to try to contain the disease, such as travel bans and restrictions, social distancing, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders and business shutdowns, among others. These measures caused significant economic disruption and adversely impacted the global economy, leading to reduced consumer spending and volatility in the global financial and commodities markets. Many of our facilities and employees are located in areas impacted by the virus. As a result of these measures and the general economic disruption, we experienced a decline in our financial results primarily in the second and third quarters of 2020, particularly in our Advanced Polymer Solutions and Refining segments. A return to more ordinary course of economic activity is dependent on the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the severity and transmission rate of the virus, the extent and effectiveness of containment efforts, including the spread of virus variants, the availability of vaccines, and future policy decisions made by governments across the globe as they react to evolving local and global conditions.

We continue to work with our stakeholders (including customers, employees, suppliers, business partners, and local communities) to attempt to mitigate the impact of the global pandemic on our business, including by implementing policies and procedures to promote the safety of our employees, proactively reducing costs intended to allow us to protect against further risk, and investing in initiatives to support our long-term growth, while also focusing on maintaining liquidity. However, we cannot assure that these mitigation efforts will continue to be effective or successful. An extended period of global supply chain and economic disruption as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic could have a material negative impact on our business, results of operations, access to sources of liquidity and financial condition. To the extent that the COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacts our business, results of operations, liquidity or financial condition, it may also have the effect of increasing many of the other risks described in “Risk Factors” set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Table of Contents

Increased IT and cybersecurity threats and more sophisticated and targeted computer crime could pose a risk to our systems, networks, data, products, facilities and services.

Increased global information cybersecurity threats and more sophisticated, targeted computer crime pose a risk to the confidentiality, availability and integrity of our data, operations and infrastructure. While we attempt to mitigate these risks by employing a number of measures, including security measures, employee training, comprehensive monitoring of our networks and systems, and maintenance of backup and protective systems, our employees, systems, networks, products, facilities and services remain potentially vulnerable to sophisticated espionage or cyber-assault. Depending on their nature and scope, such threats could potentially lead to the compromise of confidential information, improper use of our systems and networks, manipulation and destruction of data, defective products, production downtimes and operational disruptions, which in turn could adversely affect our reputation, competitiveness and results of operations.

Many of our businesses depend on our intellectual property. Our future success will depend in part on our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, and our inability to do so could reduce our ability to maintain our competitiveness and margins.

We have a significant worldwide patent portfolio of issued and pending patents. These patents and patent applications, together with proprietary technical know-how, are significant to our competitive position, particularly with regard to PO, intermediate chemicals, polyolefins, licensing and catalysts. We rely on the patent, copyright and trade secret laws of the countries in which we operate to protect our investment in research and development, manufacturing and marketing. We operate plants, sell catalysts and products, participate in joint ventures, and license our process technology in many foreign jurisdictions, including those having heightened risks for intellectual property. In some of these instances, we must disclose at least a portion of our technology to third parties or regulatory bodies. In these cases, we rely primarily on contracts and trade secret laws to protect the associated trade secrets. However, we may be unable to prevent third parties from using our intellectual property without authorization. Proceedings to protect these rights could be costly, and we may not prevail.

The failure of our patents or confidentiality agreements to protect our processes, apparatuses, technology, trade secrets or proprietary know-how could result in significantly lower revenues, reduced profit margins and cash flows and/or loss of market share. We also may be subject to claims that our technology, patents or other intellectual property infringes on a third party’s intellectual property rights. Unfavorable resolution of these claims could result in restrictions on our ability to deliver the related service or in a settlement that could be material to us.

Adverse results of legal proceedings could materially adversely affect us.

We are subject to and may in the future be subject to a variety of legal proceedings and claims that arise out of the ordinary conduct of our business. Results of legal proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty. Irrespective of its merits, litigation may be both lengthy and disruptive to our operations and may cause significant expenditure and diversion of management attention. We may be faced with significant monetary damages or injunctive relief against us that could have an adverse impact on our business and results of operations should we fail to prevail in certain matters.

Significant changes in pension fund investment performance or assumptions relating to pension costs may adversely affect the valuation of pension obligations, the funded status of pension plans, and our pension cost.

Our pension cost is materially affected by the discount rates used to measure pension obligations, the level of plan assets available to fund those obligations at the measurement date and the expected long-term rates of return on plan assets. Significant changes in investment performance or a change in the portfolio mix of invested assets may result in corresponding increases and decreases in the value of plan assets, particularly equity securities, or in a change of the expected rate of return on plan assets. Any changes in key actuarial assumptions, such as the discount rate or mortality rate, would impact the valuation of pension obligations, affecting the reported funded status of our pension plans as well as the net periodic pension cost in the following fiscal years.

Table of Contents

Nearly all of our current pension plans have projected benefit obligations that exceed the fair value of the plan assets. As of December 31, 2020, the aggregate deficit was $1,482 million. Any declines in the fair values of the pension plans’ assets could require additional payments by us in order to maintain specified funding levels.

Our pension plans are subject to legislative and regulatory requirements of applicable jurisdictions, which could include, under certain circumstances, local governmental authority to terminate the plan.

See Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding pensions and other postretirement benefits.

None.

Environmental Matters

From time to time we and our joint ventures receive notices or inquiries from government entities regarding alleged violations of environmental laws and regulations pertaining to, among other things, the disposal, emission and storage of chemical and petroleum substances, including hazardous wastes. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules require disclosure of certain environmental matters when a governmental authority is a party to the proceedings and the proceedings involve potential monetary sanctions that we reasonably believe could exceed $300,000. The matters below are disclosed solely pursuant to that requirement and we do not believe that any of these proceeding will have a material impact on the company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

In March 2018, the Cologne, Germany local court issued a regulatory fine notice of €1,800,000 arising from a pipeline leak near our Wesseling, Germany facility. We expect the Cologne prosecutor to issue a corresponding payment request, which will resolve the matter.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been conducting an enforcement initiative regarding flare emissions at petrochemical plants. In July 2014, we received a Clean Air Act section 114 information request regarding flares at four U.S. facilities, and entered into discussions with EPA and the Department of Justice (DOJ). In December 2020, we reached a settlement agreement with EPA and DOJ to resolve claims related to alleged improper operation and maintenance of flares at the four facilities. The Company has agreed to pay a penalty of $4,100,000, and make investments in equipment at the facilities. The complaint and consent decree are expected to be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

In February 2020, the State of Texas filed suit against Houston Refining, LP, a subsidiary of LyondellBasell, in Travis County District Court seeking civil penalties and injunctive relief for violations of the Texas Clean Air Act related to several emission events. In July 2020, Harris County, Texas petitioned to intervene in the lawsuit and the State added additional claims to its petition relating to self-reported deviations of Houston Refining's air operating permit. We reasonably believe resolution of this matter could result in payment of a penalty in excess of $300,000.

Litigation and Other Matters

Information regarding our litigation and other legal proceedings can be found in Note 17 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Not applicable.

Table of Contents

PART II

Market and Dividend Information

Our shares were listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) on October 14, 2010 under the symbol “LYB.”

The payment of dividends or distributions in the future will be subject to the requirements of Dutch law and the discretion of our Board of Directors. The declaration of any future cash dividends and, if declared, the amount of any such dividends, will depend upon general business conditions, our financial condition, our earnings and cash flow, our capital requirements, financial covenants and other contractual restrictions on the payment of dividends or distributions.

There can be no assurance that any dividends or distributions will be declared or paid in the future.

Holders

As of February 23, 2021, there were approximately 5,400 record holders of our shares, including Cede & Co. as nominee of the Depository Trust Company.

United Kingdom Tax Considerations

As a result of its United Kingdom tax residency, dividend distributions by LyondellBasell Industries N.V. to its shareholders are not subject to withholding tax, as the United Kingdom currently does not levy a withholding tax on dividend distributions.

Table of Contents

Performance Graph

The performance graph and the information contained in this section is not “soliciting material,” is being furnished, not filed, with the SEC and is not to be incorporated by reference into any of our filings under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act whether made before or after the date hereof and irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing.

The graph below shows the relative investment performance of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. shares, the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Chemicals Index since December 31, 2015. The graph assumes that $100 was invested on December 31, 2015 and any dividends paid were reinvested at the date of payment. The graph is presented pursuant to SEC rules and is not meant to be an indication of our future performance.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

On May 29, 2020, we announced a share repurchase authorization of up to 34,004,563 of our ordinary shares through November 29, 2021, which superseded any prior repurchase authorizations and represents the maximum number of shares that may be purchased as of December 31, 2020. The maximum number of shares that may yet be purchased is not necessarily an indication of the number of shares that will ultimately be purchased.

Table of Contents

The following selected financial data was derived from our Consolidated Financial Statements, which were prepared from our books and records. In August 2018, we acquired all of the outstanding common stock of A. Schulman, Inc. (“A. Schulman”). As such, amounts below incorporate the businesses acquired from A. Schulman beginning August 2018. This data should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes thereto and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” below, which includes a discussion of factors that will enhance an understanding of this data.

(a)Operating income and Income from continuing operations in 2020 include pre-tax charges of $37 million ($27 million, after tax) for integration costs associated with our acquisition of A. Schulman and a pre-tax non-cash charge of $582 million ( $446 million, after tax), related to impairment of long-lived assets at our Houston refinery. Integration activities related to our acquisition of A. Schulman were substantially completed by the third quarter of 2020.

Table of Contents

In 2019, we had pre-tax charges of $116 million ($89 million, after tax) for integration costs associated with our acquisition of A. Schulman.

In 2018, we had pre-tax acquisition-related transaction and integration costs of $73 million ($57 million, after tax) associated with the acquisition of A. Schulman.

In 2016, we had a pre-tax charge of $58 million ($37 million, after tax) for a pension settlement.

(b)Interest expense and Income from continuing operations in 2020 include pre-tax charges of $69 million ($53 million, after tax) related to the redemption of $1,000 million aggregate principal amount of our then outstanding 6% senior notes due 2021 and €750 million aggregate principal amount of our then outstanding 1.875% guaranteed notes due 2022.

In 2017, we had pre-tax charges of $113 million ($106 million, after tax) related to the redemption of $1,000 million aggregate principal amount of our then outstanding 5% senior notes due 2019.

(c)Income from continuing operations in 2019 and 2018 includes a non-cash tax benefit of $113 million and $358 million, respectively, from the previously unrecognized tax benefits and the release of associated accrued interest.

Also included in 2018 is a $34 million after tax gain on the sale of our carbon black subsidiary in France.

Income from continuing operations in 2017 includes an $819 million non-cash tax benefit related to the lower federal income tax rate resulting from the enactment of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, an after tax gain $103 million on the sale of our 27% interest in Geosel, a joint venture in France and a $20 million after tax gain on the sale of property in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Income from continuing operations in 2016 includes $135 million of out-of-period adjustments related to taxes on our cross-currency swaps and deferred liabilities related to some of our consolidated subsidiaries. Also included in 2016, is an after tax gain of $78 million on the sale of our wholly owned Argentine subsidiary.

(d)Includes Long-term debt and Current maturities of long-term debt.

(e)We define working capital as the sum of Accounts receivable and Inventories less Accounts payable.

Table of Contents

GENERAL

This discussion should be read in conjunction with the information contained in our Consolidated Financial Statements, and the accompanying notes elsewhere in this report. Unless otherwise indicated, the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” or similar words are used to refer to LyondellBasell Industries N.V. together with its consolidated subsidiaries (“LyondellBasell N.V.”).

The discussion summarizing the significant factors affecting the results of operations and financial condition for the year ended December 31, 2018, can be found in Part II, “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 20, 2020 , of which Item 7 is incorporated herein by reference.

OVERVIEW

During 2020, we demonstrated financial and operational resilience against the challenging backdrop of a global pandemic, the associated recession, volatile oil prices and significant capacity additions in our industry.

Early in 2020, as the virus became more widespread, our leadership team established three principles to guide our actions in the short term. These were to (i) protect our employees, both from the virus in the workplace and also from widespread layoffs; (ii) prioritize cash flow and keep our commitments to our shareholders; and (iii) take action to strengthen the company for the future.

Our manufacturing operations have been designated as an essential industry to support society’s needs during the pandemic in the majority of the regions in which we operate. Our performance was supported by consumer-driven demand for many of our products and the recovery in demand for durable goods during the second half of the year. Our Refining and Oxyfuels & Related Products businesses suffered from the unprecedented decline in demand for transportation fuels that began during March 2020 due to the pandemic. During the year, we advanced our growth agenda through the formation of joint ventures in China and on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Our strengths in operational excellence, cost management and capital discipline served us well as we quickly adapted to dynamic conditions by minimizing working capital and bolstering liquidity by rapidly accessing capital markets and efficiently generating cash. We honored commitments to maintain an investment grade credit rating and continued to fund dividends and capital investments with cash from operations.

Significant items that affected results in 2020 relative to 2019 include:

• Olefins and Polyolefins—Americas (“O&P—Americas”) and Olefins and Polyolefins—Europe, Asia, International (“O&P—EAI”) segment results declined primarily due to lower olefin and polyolefins margins;

• Intermediates and Derivatives (“I&D”) segment results declined due to margin decreases primarily driven by our intermediate chemicals and oxyfuels and related products businesses; and

• Refining segment results declined due to lower refining margins and a $582 million non-cash impairment charge which was recognized during the third quarter of 2020.

Table of Contents

Other noteworthy items include the following:

• Launched production at our U.S. Gulf Coast high-density polyethylene plant using LyondellBasell's next-generation Hyperzone technology during the first quarter of 2020;

• In April 2020, issued $2,000 million of Guaranteed Notes to bolster liquidity. Net proceeds from the sale of the notes totaled $1,974 million;

• In April 2020, repaid $500 million outstanding under our Senior Revolving Credit Facility and $500 million outstanding under our U.S. Receivables Facility, which were borrowed in March 2020;

• In August 2020, invested $472 million in our new 50 percent owned joint venture polyolefin complex in China with Liaoning Bora Enterprise Group using our polyolefin technologies;

• In October 2020, issued $3,900 million of Guaranteed Notes to be used to repay certain outstanding borrowings and fund a portion of the Louisiana Integrated PolyEthylene JV LLC (“Louisiana Joint Venture”) purchase. Net proceeds from the sale of the notes totaled $3,848 million;

• In the fourth quarter of 2020, repaid $500 million outstanding under our Term Loan due 2022 and all amounts outstanding on our Senior Notes due 2021 and Guaranteed Notes due 2022;

• In December 2020, invested $2 billion to purchase a 50 percent interest in the newly formed Louisiana Joint Venture with Sasol Chemicals (USA) LLC;

• In January 2021, signed an agreement to form a 50 percent owned joint venture with the China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (“Sinopec”) which will construct a new PO and SM unit in China; and

• In January 2021, repaid an additional $500 million outstanding under our Term Loan due 2022.

Results of operations for the periods discussed are presented in the table below.

Table of Contents

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Revenues—Revenues decreased $6,974 million, or 20%, in 2020 compared to 2019. Average sales prices in 2020 were lower for most of our products as sales prices generally correlate with crude oil prices, which decreased relative to 2019. These lower prices led to a 19% decrease in revenue in 2020. Lower sales volumes resulted in a revenue decrease of 2% relative to 2019. Favorable foreign exchange impacts resulted in a revenue increase of 1% during 2020.

Cost of Sales—Cost of sales decreased $4,942 million, or 17%, in 2020 compared to 2019. This decrease primarily related to lower feedstock and energy costs. Costs for crude oil, heavy liquid feedstocks and natural gas liquids (“NGLs”) and other feedstocks were lower in 2020 relative to 2019. This decrease corresponds with the decrease in revenues as discussed above.

Fluctuations in our cost of sales are generally driven by changes in feedstock and energy costs. Feedstock and energy related costs generally represent approximately 70% to 80%

Showing the first 8K of 83K characters. Open the full section

See Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for discussion of LyondellBasell Industries N.V.’s management of commodity price risk, foreign currency exposure and interest rate risk through its use of derivative instruments and hedging activities.

Commodity Price Risk

Our products and raw materials are subject to changes in market price as supply and demand fundamentals change. Natural gas, crude oil and refined products, along with feedstocks for ethylene and propylene production, constitute the main commodity exposures. We try to protect against such instability through various business strategies including provisions in sales contracts which allows us to pass on higher raw material costs to our customers through timely price increases and through the use of commodity swap and futures contracts.

At December 31, 2020 and 2019, an instantaneous parallel shift up or down in the underlying commodity price of 10% and no corresponding change in the underlying implied volatilities of those prices, would have resulted in an additional impact to Other comprehensive loss of approximately $11 million and less than $1 million, respectively.

Foreign Exchange Risk

We manufacture and market our products in many countries throughout the world and, as a result, are exposed to changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

A significant portion of our reporting entities use the euro as their functional currency. Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar. The translation gains or losses that result from the process of translating the euro denominated financial statements to U.S. dollars are deferred in Accumulated other comprehensive income until such time as those entities may be liquidated or sold. Changes in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to the euro can therefore have a significant impact on comprehensive income.

We have entered into hedging arrangements designated as net investment hedges to reduce the volatility in shareholders’ equity resulting from foreign currency fluctuation associated with our net investments in foreign operations. The table below illustrates the impact on Other comprehensive loss of a 10% fluctuation in the foreign currency rate associated with each net investment hedge and the EURIBOR and LIBOR rates associated with the cross-currency basis swaps at December 31:

Some of our operations enter into transactions that are not denominated in their functional currency. This results in exposure to foreign currency risk for financial instruments, including, but not limited to, third party and intercompany receivables and payables and intercompany loans.

Table of Contents

Our policy is to maintain a balanced position in foreign currencies to minimize exchange gains and losses arising from changes in exchange rates. To minimize the effects of our net currency exchange exposures, we enter into foreign exchange contracts and cross-currency swaps. We also engage in short-term foreign exchange swaps in order to roll certain hedge positions and to make funds available for intercompany financing. Our net position in foreign currencies is monitored daily.

We maintain risk management control practices to monitor the foreign currency risk attributable to our inter-company and third party outstanding foreign currency balances. These practices involve the centralization of our exposure to underlying currencies that are not subject to central bank and/or country specific restrictions. By centralizing most of our foreign currency exposure into one subsidiary, we are able to take advantage of any natural offsets thereby reducing the overall impact of changes in foreign currency rates on our earnings. At December 31, 2020 and 2019, a 10% fluctuation compared to the U.S. dollar in the underlying currencies that have no central bank or other currency restrictions related to non-hedged monetary net assets would have resulted in an additional impact to earnings of approximately $4 million and $2 million, respectively.

At December 31, 2020, non-cancellable cross-currency swaps with an aggregated notional of $2,005 million, were designated as foreign currency cash flow hedges to reduce the variability in the functional currency equivalent cash flows of certain foreign currency denominated intercompany notes. These foreign currency contracts have maturity dates ranging from 2021 to 2027 and their fair value was a net liability of $259 million. A 10% fluctuation compared to the U.S. dollar would have resulted in an additional impact to Other comprehensive loss of approximately $250 million and $238 million in 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Other income, net, in the Consolidated Statements of Income reflected net exchange rate foreign currency losses of $7 million, gains of $9 million and $24 million in 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. For forward contracts, including swap transactions, that economically hedge recognized monetary assets and liabilities in foreign currencies, no hedge accounting is applied. Changes in the fair value of foreign currency forward and swap contracts are reported in the Consolidated Statements of Income and offset the currency exchange results recognized on the assets and liabilities. At December 31, 2020, these foreign currency contracts, which will mature between January 2021 and June 2021, inclusively, had an aggregated notional amount of $225 million and the fair value was a net liability of $1 million. A 10% fluctuation compared to the U.S. dollar would have resulted in an additional impact to earnings of approximately $5 million and $31 million in 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Interest Rate Risk

Interest rate risk management is viewed as a trade-off between cost and risk. The cost of interest is generally lower for short-term debt and higher for long-term debt, and lower for floating rate debt and higher for fixed rate debt. However, the risk associated with interest rates is inversely related to the cost, with short-term debt carrying a higher refinancing risk and floating rate debt having higher interest rate volatility. Our interest rate risk management strategy attempts to optimize this cost/risk/reward trade-off.

We are exposed to interest rate risk with respect to our fixed and variable rate debt. Fluctuations in interest rates impact the fair value of fixed-rate debt as well as pre-tax earnings stemming from interest expense on variable-rate debt. To minimize earnings at risk as part of our interest rate risk management strategy, we target to maintain floating rate debt, through the use of interest rate swaps and issuance of floating rate debt, equal to our cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities and tri-party repurchase agreements, as those assets are invested in floating rate instruments.

Table of Contents

Pre-issuance interest rate—A pre-issuance interest rate strategy is utilized to mitigate the risk that benchmark interest rates (i.e. U.S. Treasury, mid-swaps, etc.) will increase between the time a decision has been made to issue debt and when the actual debt offering is issued. At December 31, 2020, the total notional amount of our interest rate contracts designated as cash flow hedges, which have maturity dates ranging from 2023 to 2024, was $1,000 million and the fair value was a net liability of $343 million. We estimate that a 10% change in market interest rates as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, would change the fair value of our forward-starting interest rate swaps outstanding and would have resulted in an impact on Other comprehensive loss of approximately $44 million and $66 million, respectively.

Fixed-rate debt—We enter into interest rate swaps as part of our interest rate risk management strategy. At December 31, 2020, the total notional amount of an interest rate swap designated as a fair value hedge, which matures in 2026, was $122 million and their fair value was a net asset of $2 million.

At December 31, 2020, after giving consideration to the $122 million of fixed-rate debt that we have effectively converted to floating through these fixed-for-floating interest rate swaps, approximately 83% of our debt portfolio, on a gross basis, incurred interest at a fixed-rate and the remaining 17% of the portfolio incurred interest at a variable-rate. We estimate that a 10% change in market interest rates as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, would change the fair value of our interest rate swaps outstanding and would have resulted in an impact on our pre-tax income of approximately less than $1 million and $15 million, respectively.

Variable-rate debt—Our variable rate debt consists of our $2,500 million Senior Revolving Credit Facility, our $900 million U.S. Receivables Facility, our Term Loan due 2022, our Guaranteed Floating Rate Notes due 2023 and our Commercial Paper Program. At December 31, 2020, there were no outstanding borrowings under our Senior Revolving Credit Facility and our U.S. Receivables Facility. At December 31, 2020, our Term Loan due 2022, Guaranteed Floating Rate Notes due 2023 and Commercial Paper Program had carrying values of $1,448 million, $646 million and $500 million, respectively. Based on our average variable-rate debt outstanding per year, we estimate that a 10% change in market interest rates would have had $3 million and $1 million impact on earnings in 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Table of Contents

Index to the Consolidated Financial Statements

Table of Contents

MANAGEMENT’S REPORT ON INTERNAL CONTROL

OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

Management of the Company, including the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit the preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

We conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020 based on the Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013. Based on our evaluation, management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2020.

The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020 has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report which is included herein.

Table of Contents

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of LyondellBasell Industries N.V.

Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of LyondellBasell Industries N.V. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the related consolidated statements of income, of comprehensive income, of shareholders' equity and of cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020, including the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). We also have audited the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2020 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the COSO.

Change in Accounting Principle

As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed the manner in which it accounts for leases in 2019.

Basis for Opinions

The Company's management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express opinions on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our audits of the consolidated financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

Table of Contents

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial

Showing the first 8K of 329K characters. Open the full section

None.

Effectiveness of Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer) and our Chief Financial Officer (principal financial officer) has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures in ensuring that the information required to be disclosed in reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, including ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to management (including the principal executive and financial officers) as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Based on such evaluation, our principal executive and financial officers have concluded that such disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2020, the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Management’s report on our internal control over financial reporting can be found in Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, of this report.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Act, in our fourth fiscal quarter of 2020 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

None.

Table of Contents

PART III

We have a Code of Conduct for all employees and directors, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer and persons performing similar functions. We also have a Financial Code of Ethics specifically for our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer and persons performing similar functions. We have posted copies of these codes on the “Corporate Governance” section of our website at www.LyondellBasell.com (within the Investor Relations section). Any waivers of the codes must be approved, in advance, by our Board of Directors. Any amendments to, or waivers from, the codes that apply to our executive officers and directors will be posted on the “Corporate Governance” section of our website.

Information regarding our executive officers is reported under the caption “Information about our Executive Officers” in Part I of this report, which is incorporated herein by reference.

All other information required by this Item will be included in our Proxy Statement relating to our 2021 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and is incorporated herein by reference.*

All information required by this Item will be included in our Proxy Statement relating to our 2021 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and is incorporated herein by reference.*

All information required by this Item will be included in our Proxy Statement relating to our 2021 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and is incorporated herein by reference.*

All information required by this Item will be included in our Proxy Statement relating to our 2021 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and is incorporated herein by reference.*

All information required by this Item will be included in our Proxy Statement relating to our 2021 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and is incorporated herein by reference.*

Table of Contents

PART IV

(a) (1) Consolidated Financial Statements*:* The financial statements and supplementary information listed in the Index to Financial Statements, included in Item 8.

(a) (2) Consolidated Financial Statement Schedules*:* Schedules are omitted because they either are not required or are not applicable or because equivalent information has been included in the financial statements, the notes thereto or elsewhere herein.

(b) Exhibits:

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

None.

Table of Contents

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Table of Contents

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.