- Aiming to recover profitability and a positive employment balance
First announced at the presentation of its 2024-2027 Strategic Plan, Eni now confirms that it has finalized transformation and relaunch plan for its chemicals business, aimed at advancing its decarbonization process.
The transformation plan the company said, would involve about 2 billion euros of investment and aims to reduce emissions by approximately 1 million tonnes of CO2, which is about 40% of Versalis’ emissions in Italy at the moment. It includes, according to its press statement, setting-up of new industrial plants consistent with the energy transition, and decarbonization of industrial sites across sustainable chemistry, as well as biorefining and energy storage. Adding that activity at the cracking plants in Brindisi and Priolo, and the polyethylene plant in Ragusa, will be phased out to enable the construction of the new plants.
Disclosing that the transformation is intended to support, eventually, a positive impact on employment, counteracting the impacts of inevitable negative consequences that the structural and consolidated crisis of the sector in Europe would have on employment.
It added that the plan whose implementation will kickstart by 2029, would aim to invest in the development of new chemical platforms in renewables, circular and specialized products, growing markets in which Versalis, according to the statement, has acquired a leading position.
Eni also says it aims to significantly reduce Versalis’ exposure to basic chemicals, a sector which is currently facing structural and irreversible decline in Europe, which has also led to economic losses of close to 7bn euros in cash terms over the last 15 years, 3bn which was just in the last five years.
The company says it has the expertise to implement this ambitious transformation plan, adding that it has repeatedly demonstrated its capability by the successful shift of its traditional refining business into biorefining. While following the transformation and relaunch plan Eni says, it will get the goal to focus Versalis chemistry on a high-value downstream portfolio, comprising compounding and specialized polymers, biochemistry and products from the circular economy, which it assures will be consistent with Eni’s technology-driven and strategic focus, on energy transition businesses with all the associated competitive advantages. Adding that the business will be supported by a new corporate structure to be developed in alignment with the satellite model: Biochemicals (including Novamont), Downstream (with the acquisitions of Finproject and Tecnofilm), Circularity (through the development of chemical and mechanical recycling), and basic chemicals (resulting from rationalization and repositioning on polymers).
Eni intends to provide further details at the presentation of its Q3 2024 results.