Basell to restart Ferrara PP plant next wk after silo blast

02 August 2001 16:20  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (CNI)--Basell said Thursday it hopes to resume production next week from its Ferrara, Italy polypropylene (PP) plant following an explosion on Sunday (29 July).

The blast, in an intermediate storage silo, forced Basell to close the 150 000 tonne/year capacity plant while investigations are carried out into the likely cause of the incident.

A spokesman for Basell told CNI that although the investigations were incomplete the company hoped to resume production some time next week.

No one was injured in the explosion which badly damaged the silo and caused some damage to nearby buildings on the site. The spokesman stressed that the main production facilities were unaffected and he pointed out that the silo was one of several at the site.

"We hope to go straight back to full production when we start up again."

Basell, which is a polyolefins joint venture between Anglo-Dutch Shell and Germany's BASF, had no plans to declare force majeure, confirmed the spokesman.

By: Neil Sinclair
+44 20 8652 3214

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