MOSCOW (MRC) -- Polymt, an Intalian petrochemical producer, has announced that all its sites and activities in Italy are running smoothly and according to plan, despite the recent news about the Italian situation related to the spreading of the coronavirus in the country, said the producer on its site.
No disruption has been suffered by our operations, and none is expected given the current situation.
None of the Italian sites and offices of the company is located into or close to the zones where the authorities have enforced restrictive measures for activities and accessibility and nobody in Polynt's workforce lives in the restricted zones.
Production is running in full in all the Italian sites, and the manning of the plants is regular, including the personnel devoted to the maintenance, to the quality control and to the ancillary manufacturing activities. No production volumes got lost for the coronavirus so far, and no disruption is foreseen in the future. The company confirmed that it is perfectly able to supply its customers with the material they need.
Polynt runs two maleic anhydride (MA) plants in northern Italy, including Bergamo’s 36,000 tonne unit in Lombardy and Ravenna’s 60,000 tonne plant on the east coast. The bigger production line at Ravenna had been operating at a reduced rate since March 2019 due to technical issues, the firm previously said. A new reactor ordered is expected to be operational in 2021.
Polynt also produces phthalic anhydride at Bergamo and its San Giovanni Valdarno site, as well as plasticizers at San Giovanni Valdarno.
Maleic anhydride is a feedstock for the production of tetrahydrofuran, tetrahydrophthalic anhydride, films and synthetic fibers, pharmaceuticals, detergents, plasticizers, maleic, succinic, fumaric and malic acids and a number of chemicals for agriculture.
Plasticizers are substances introduced into a polymeric material to give it elasticity and plasticity during processing and operation. In particular, plasticizers are used to produce polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The share of plasticizers used for the production of PVC products is about 80%.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, contrary to seasonal factors, Russian producers of unmixed PVC have maintained a high level of capacity utilisation. Russia's overal PVC output totalled 91,700 tonnes in January 2020, up by 4% year on year. January production of unmixed PVC was 91,700 tonnes versus 87,760 tonnes in January 2019 and 81,400 tonnes in December 2019. Thus, despite relatively weak demand for resin from the domestic market, the average capacity utilisation exceeded 95% last month. Russia's overall PVC production reached 975,000 tonnes in 2019, compared to 958,600 tonnes a year earlier.
MRC