What future for Italian chemistry? The imminent sale of Versalis, which Eni's CEO will talk about on Wednesday afternoon Claudio Descalzi by presenting the 2016-19 industrial plan to the joint commissions of the Chamber and Senate, he opened the debate: is it right to sell the largest Italian chemical company, or should Eni keep it and relaunch it? And in the event of a sale, is it more sensible to sell it to a small entity, as is happening, or to a more solid group?
“Versalis is no longer strategic”, Descalzi has already said recently. However, according to what emerges from an in-depth analysis by Eni's former top manager Leonardo Maugeri in the pages of Repubblica, the sector is still healthy and there is room for relaunching it, with the necessary precautions. According to forecasts for 2016, the Italian chemical industry should grow by +1,4%, compared to the +0,8% estimated in 2015. However, exports are expected to decline, due to the "very strong competition from the USA and the countries of the Persian Gulf – writes Maugeri -, who are advantaged by the availability of low-cost raw materials, and can therefore afford to invade the Chinese market, where domestic demand grows luxuriantly requiring imports”.
The hope is therefore that the major producers concentrate on the Asian market, without compromising the already lesser competitiveness of European petrochemicals, especially Italian ones. As for Italy, “we need to rebuild three pillars – writes Maugeri again -: first of all technological research and development, but well directed and not following the sterile slogan that research is always useful". Then there would be the "green" chemistry, a sector hitherto little explored even by the big international players, which it would be fruitful to pounce on. The third pillar is that of revitalize existing petrochemical sites and reconvert them surgically, and this is the most complicated operation. "The Italian regulatory system itself makes it difficult to make acceptable investments even within already existing industrial sites: too many authorities overlap with authorization and veto powers", denounces the former Eni executive in La Repubblica. But above all, to support such a complex and onerous effort, adequate knowledge of the Italian system, passion and an entrepreneurial spirit already experienced on industrial rescues are needed. In short, we need a "big player" such as Eni cannot be because chemistry, despite everything, has never been his real job and it certainly isn't now. However, "thinking of rebuilding an Italian chemistry of great global value starting from what remains today of ENI is difficult, but possible" argues Maugeri. "The door is very narrow - he observes - but I believe that there are still national entities capable of throwing themselves into this mission". Come forward, then, because this is the last call and the transfer of Versalis can no longer be postponed.
The Versalis case starts from afar, from an unfortunate management in the years of the economic boom, when to wage war on the colossus created by Enrico Mattei, private companies such as above all Montecatini and Edison they multiplied their activity in many small plants, weak at the level which however obtained the result of cannibalizing each other. The economic crisis of the '70s ended up shattering everything and it was then that "in order to remedy the employment disaster, Eni - then a state body - was forced to incorporate the petrochemical sites of the bankrupt companies". In the 80s and 90s there were then other senseless operations, such as the disastrous one merger between Eni and Montedison (born in turn from the Montecatini-Edison merger), from which Enimont was born, then overwhelmed by the Tangentopoli scandal.
In the years between 2010 and 2015, according to Federchimica data, Italian exports grew more than others in Europe: +20%, behind only Spain and ahead of Germany, the United Kingdom and France. But looking at the most recent data, exports, which so far have been driven by fine chemicals, are expected to drop in 2016 with +3% against +4,5% in 2015. Uncertainties on international markets continue to penalize chemicals and thus, despite the impulse towards green and technologically advanced production, Italian production should remain at contained growth levels this year of +1,6%.
