LyondellBasell to shut polypropylene plant in Italy

LyondellBasell Industries on Thursday announced plans to cease production of polypropylene (PP) at Terni, Italy with a general fall in demand making the unit unviable.

The company said it has started consultation process with employees regarding a proposal to permanently shut down the unit.

"Demand for polypropylene continues to be affected by global economic conditions and the resulting market environment has made facilities such as Terni no longer economically viable," said Anton De Vries , senior vice president, olefins and polyolefins - Europe, Asia and International. "We expect to be able to meet projected customer demand for polypropylene (including local customers in Terni) with product supplied from our other facilities in Italy," he added.

LyondellBasell said its PP production activities in Italy would be focused on the company's world-scale sites at Ferrara and Brindisi. 

The Terni plant has a nameplate capacity of 255,000 tonnes per year. LyondellBasell said along side the shut-down option, it has started consultation with representatives of the employees to determine the appropriate path forward for the employees at the site.

The plant currently has approximately 120 permanent employees.