OLD AND NEW STYLE CHEMICAL MANUFACTURERS IN SICILY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 003755 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/ERA USDOC FOR ITA/MAC DE FALCO DEPT PASS TO "ALL EUROPEAN UNION POST COLLECTIVE" E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TPHY ETRD SENV ETRD SENV IT ITTPHY SUBJECT: OLD AND NEW STYLE CHEMICAL MANUFACTURERS IN SICILY REF: ROME 3390 ¶1. SUMMARY. ON 24 AUGUST A/ECMIN VISITED THE PRIOLO INDUSTRIAL AREA IN SOUTHERN SICILY TO MEET WITH DOW ITALIA UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 02 ROME 03755 01 OF 02 011426Z AND POLIMERI EUROPA, TOUR THEIR FACILITIES, AND ACQUIRE GENERAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE COMPANIES TO PAVE THE WAY FOR FUTURE DISCUSSIONS ON EU CHEMICALS POLICY. DOW IS THE LARGEST CHEMICAL COMPANY OPERATING IN ITALY, AND POLIMERI EUROPA IS THE LARGEST PRODUCER OF POLYETHYLENES IN EUROPE. THE VERY DIFFERENT OPERATIONAL STRUCTURES AND STYLE OF THE COMPANIES SUGGESTS THAT WE MAY FIND DIFFERENT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE EU PROPOSALS; PE PLANTS FUNCTION AS PRODUCTION UNITS WITH LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF POLICY OR MANAGEMENT ISSUES, WHEREAS DOW HAS INTEGRATED ITS PRODUCTION/RESEARCH FACILITIES AND PERSONNEL INTO OVERALL CORPORATE MANAGEMENT. END SUMMARY. ¶2. THE INDUSTRIAL SECTION OF PRIOLO WAS BUILT AS A SINGLE, MULTIFUNCTIONAL COMPLEX IN THE 1950S BY THE GOI, THEN PRIVATIZED IN THE EARLY 1960S. THE PRIOLO SITE, WHICH OCCUPIES 900 HECTARES NORTH OF SYRACUSE, CONTAINS PLANTS OWNED BY AGIP, ENICHEM, DOW, POLIMERI EUROPA, ERG, AND ESSO. SOME OF THESE COMPANIES FUNCTION INTERDEPENDENTLY AT THE PRIOLO SITE, TRANSPORTING PRODUCTS AND/OR INTERMEDIATES TO OTHER COMPANIES IN THE VICINITY. THE PRIOLO PLANTS SHARE AN EXTENSIVE SECURITY SYSTEM AND THE SAME SHIPYARD FOR TRANSPORTATION OF MATERIALS. IN ADDITION, THEY ALL BELONG TO CIPA, THE INDUSTRIAL CONSORTIUM FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, AND SHARE A COMMON BIOLOGICAL PLANT FOR TREATMENT OF WASTEWATER (IAS),WHICH IS THE LARGEST OF ITS KIND IN EUROPE AND THE FIFTH LARGEST IN THE WORLD. IAS'S CURRENT GOAL IS TO RECYCLE THREE MILLION CUBIC METERS OF WASTEWATER FROM INDUSTRY; ITS FUTURE GOAL WILL BE TEN MILLION CUBIC METERS. ¶3. A/ECMIN FIRST MET WITH POLIMERI EUROPA (PE) PERSONNEL UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 03 ROME 03755 01 OF 02 011426Z FROM PRIOLO. PE, BASED IN MILAN, PRODUCES TWENTY DIFFERENT LOW-DENSITY LINEAR POLYETHYLENE (LDLPE) PRODUCTS, AS WELL AS PROPYLENE, CUMENE, AND AROMATICS SUCH AS BENZENE, ORTHO- AND PARA- XYLENE, AND TOLUENE. PE HAS TWO OTHER SICILIAN PLANTS AT GELA AND RAGUSA; BOTH PRODUCE LDLPES, AND GELA ALSO PRODUCES SMALL AMOUNTS OF ETHYLENE AND PROPYLENE. THE PRIOLO FACILITY IS THE LARGEST OF THE THREE IN TERMS OF BOTH SIZE AND OUTPUT, OCCUPYING THREE MILLION SQUARE METERS OF LAND AND PRODUCING 745 KILOTONS OF ETHYLENE, 440 KTN OF PROPYLENE, 440 KTN OF BENZENE, AND 200 KTN OF LDLPE PER YEAR. IT HAS 565 EMPLOYEES AND A STORAGE CAPACITY OF 98,000 CUBIC METERS. THE AROMATICS PLANT WAS INSTALLED FROM 1964- 1971, AND THE CRACKING PLANT IN 1981. THE EQUIPMENT IN THE ETHYLENE PLANT, WHERE PE IS GRADUALLY EMPLOYING MORE ADVANCED COMPUTERIZED CONTROLS AND MONITORING SYSTEMS, WAS INSTALLED IN 1987. THERE IS NO PE RESEARCH UNIT AT THE PRIOLO SITE; RESEARCH INTO AROMATICS AND CRACKING TAKES PLACE AT A MILAN FUNCTIONARY. ¶4. PE RECEIVES MONOMERIC ETHYLENE AND PROPYLENE FROM ENICHEM PRIOLO, WHICH CAN THEN BE SUBJECTED TO VINYL POLIMERIZATION/ ZIEGLER-NATTA CATALYSIS, CREATING A STRONG LINEAR POLYETHYLENE. PE ALSO RECEIVES AROMATIC C-6 FRACTIONS FROM ERG, HYDROGEN FUEL GAS FROM ESSO PRIOLO, AND TRANSPORTS MONOMERIC ETHYLENE AND AMMONIA VIA PIPELINE TO THE PLANTS AT GELA AND RAGUSA. ¶5. A/ECMIN JOINED NAPLES CONGEN CLYDE BISHOP AT THE DOW ITALIA POLYURETHANES SITE TO MEET WITH DOW PERSONNEL FROM PRIOLO AND MANAGEMENT FROM DOW'S MILAN HEADQUARTERS. THIS PARTICULAR PLANT WAS ACQUIRED FROM ENICHEM'S POLYURETHANES UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 04 ROME 03755 01 OF 02 011426Z DIVISION IN 2001, WHICH HAD ACQUIRED IT FROM UNION CARBIDE IN 1990. AT THIS TIME, DOW ALSO ACQUIRED OTHER ENICHEM POLYURETHANES PLANTS, ALL EQUIPPED WITH RESEARCH FACILITIES, IN BRINDISI, PORTO MARGHERA (NEAR VENICE),AND TERTRO, BELGIUM. WITH THESE ACQUISITIONS, DOW IS NOW THE LARGEST CHEMICAL COMPANY OPERATING IN ITALY. THE PRIOLO SITE'S PRINCIPAL MARKETS LIE IN NORTH AFRICA, TURKEY, AND ITALY. THE PLANT, WHICH HAS 97 EMPLOYEES, PRODUCES ETHYL OXIDES (ETHERS),GLYCOLS, POLYGLYCOLS, AND POLYOLS. THESE PRODUCTS ARE USED FOR COOLING FLUIDS, PHARMACEUTICALS, OIL FIELDS, COATINGS, AGRICULTURE, SHOE SOLES, AND AS RAW MATERIALS FOR POLYURETHANE SYNTHESIS. WHEN MEETING WITH MANAGEMENT FROM DOW MILAN, A/ECMIN SUGGESTED DISCUSSION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN ADDITION TO PREVIOUS PLANS FOR A SEPTEMBER MEETING ON EU CHEMICALS POLICY. DOW MILAN SEEMED EAGER AND PREPARED TO DISCUSS AT A LATER DATE. ¶6. COMMENT: A/ECMIN PLANS TO USE THESE SITE VISITS AS STARTING POINTS FOR DISCUSSION OF THE EU CHEMICALS WHITE PAPER AND DERIVATIVE TEXTS. THE VERY DIFFERENT OPERATIONAL STRUCTURES AND STYLE OF THE COMPANIES SUGGESTS THAT WE MAY UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED PTQ9359 PAGE 01 ROME 03755 02 OF 02 011426Z ACTION EUR-00 INFO LOG-00 EB-00 UTED-00 TEDE-00 OES-01 TEST-00 SAS-00 /001W -------------- D3455E 011426Z /03 R 311419Z JUL 02 FM AMEMBASSY ROME TO SECSTATE WASHDC 5173 USDOC WASHDC INFO AMCONSUL MILAN AMCONSUL FLORENCE AMCONSUL NAPLES UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 02 ROME 003755 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/ERA USDOC FOR ITA/MAC DE FALCO DEPT PASS TO "ALL EUROPEAN UNION POST COLLECTIVE" E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TPHY ETRD SENV ETRD SENV IT ITTPHY SUBJECT: OLD AND NEW STYLE CHEMICAL MANUFACTURERS IN SICILY FIND DIFFERENT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE EU PROPOSALS. POLIMERI EUROPA PRIOLO IS A PRODUCTION UNIT THAT RECEIVES INSTRUCTIONS FROM ITS MILAN HEADQUARTERS. THEIR HQ DOES NOT CONSULT REGULARLY WITH PRODUCTION LEADERS, UNCLASSIFIED PAGE 02 ROME 03755 02 OF 02 011426Z AND THE PLANT RECEIVES NEW TECHNOLOGIES AS DECIDED BY MILAN (AS NOTED, THEY HAVE NO ON-SITE RESEARCH FACILITY). ACCORDINGLY, WE WILL DIRECT OUR EFFORTS TO THE MILAN HEADQUARTERS OF THE COMPANY. IN CONTRAST, DOW MANAGEMENT INTERACTS WITH ITS PRIOLO PLANT PERSONNEL, WHO ARE WELL VERSED ON POLICY ISSUES AND THE STRUCTURE OF THE COMPANY. ON SITE, DOW WAS A CORPORATE CULTURE TEAM THAT WAS INTEGRATING THE DOW GLOBAL MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY WITH THE STYLE INHERITED FROM ENICHEM. DOW MANAGEMENT IS CLEARLY ATTENTIVE TO CHANGES IN THE POLICY ARENA WHICH MAY AFFECT THEIR BUSINESS OPERATIONS IN EUROPE AND ELSEWHERE. ¶7. THIS MESSAGE WAS PREPARED BY SCIENCE SECTION INTERN ANNE MARIEL PETERS. SEMBLER UNCLASSIFIED > 2002ROME03755 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED