March 1 (plasteurope) -- With unions calling off the planned strikes in Donges, Feyzin, Gonfreville, Granpuits and La Mede for now, production at six French refinery sites is slowly starting up again. Following the intervention of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Total has made numerous wide-ranging concessions, including not to shut an additional refinery, aside from Dunkirk, in the next five years and a job guarantee for all affected workers.
The group said it now expects operations to return to normal within two to three days. By then Total might also lift the evident force majeure on propylene (C3) - a development widely reported but not confirmed by the French group. The strike had affected about a third of France's C3 capacity.