April 24, 2025 14:56

The chemical segment of the Italy-based Eni Group, managed through its subsidiary Versalis, ended the first quarter of 2025 with a net loss of €243 million.
This marks a 45% increase compared with the same period in 2024 (€168 million) and is also worse than the €231 million reported in the final quarter of last year.

The group attributes this result to the ongoing weakness of the European chemical industry, driven by a macroeconomic slowdown and higher production costs that undermine the competitiveness of Versalis’ output compared with its Asian and North American peers, especially in a context of market oversupply.

Chemical product sales dropped by 7% to approximately 800,000 tonnes in the first three months of the year, due to weaker demand and several plant shutdowns.

To address the increasingly structural financial difficulties, Versalis has launched a restructuring process for its basic chemicals business, recently formalized in a memorandum of understanding with labor unions, with the exception of Filctem-Cgil.
As part of this plan, the Brindisi steam cracker was permanently shut down in March.

Despite the overall negative performance, the first quarter also saw some positive developments: notably, a strategic partnership was formed with Lummus Technology for the licensing of phenol chain technologies, and work began on a new styrenics-based plastic recycling plant in Porto Marghera.

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