The Versalis plant in Mantua (IT) will stop for maintenance

The management of the Versalis Mantova ABS styrenic polymer production plant, through a press release, announced the stop of production to start a plan to modernize the production plants in the months of June and July of this year.

In fact, Versalis (Eni) informs that preparatory operations have begun for the general shutdown scheduled for maintenance and new investments planned in the Mantua plant. The activities will be carried out in phases: the peak of operations at the plants is expected in the months of June and July 2021 .

The maintenance activities concern the styrenic and intermediate plants (styrene monomer, phenol and derivatives, polymers and plant services) and a new important investment for the expansion of the production of ABS styrenic polymers, for an additional capacity of 30 thousand tons/year, towards differentiated grades with high added value, intended for key sectors such as automotive, furniture and household appliances.

The investments also include interventions for technological improvement, reliability and energy and environmental efficiency for a total of over 40 million euros of investments in the two-year period 2020-2021.

Around 30 companies will be involved in the construction site, which will last around two months, with a peak presence of 600 people from third-party companies. 60 thousand cubic meters of scaffolding will be built and 600 pieces of equipment inspected.

The activities will involve a team dedicated to safety integrated by the support of the teams from Eni's Safety Competence Center and staff dedicated to health surveillance.

In particular, a protocol of additional measures to those already implemented and an epidemiological screening program for the prevention and fight against Covid-19 have been envisaged in order to guarantee maximum protection of the health of workers and local communities.

The most important of the measures implemented is the testing campaign using rapid swabs in a specially equipped area of the plant which will be launched, on a voluntary basis, also for all site staff, before the shutdown.

Furthermore, 9 thermo-scanners will be installed to facilitate the control of personnel entering and exiting the plant and will be distributed to all personnel employed in FFP2 mask stop operations.

During plant shutdown and restart activities, the control devices and safety systems will be active, including the torch which will be activated, intermittently, for the time strictly necessary to carry out the scheduled interventions. The competent bodies will be informed in advance, as required by the current operational communication protocol.