MOSCOW (MRC) -- Italian energy group Eni said all its refineries in Italy were working normally except for two which had partially cut their volumes for maintenance work, said Reuters.
“Eni however is carefully monitoring developments in the market so as to be able to gauge any possible changes in demand,” a spokesman said.
Concern is growing that with fuel demand falling as a result of travel restrictions triggered by the coronavirus outbreak refineries might have to scale back production.
The spokesman said Eni’s refineries at Sannazzaro and Taranto had partially cut production due to planned maintenance.
As MRC informed earlier, Versalis, the petrochemical division of Italy's Eni SpA, shut is cracker in Priolo, Sicily, for repairs in the last days of December, 2019. The capacity of the cracking unit at this complex is 490,000 tonnes of ethylene and 130,000 tonnes of propylene per year. The maintenance works lasted until February 2020.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC