Italian petrochemicals producer Versalis (Milan; www.polimerieuropa.com) has announced plans to produce hydrocarbon resins at its production plant in Priolo / Italy through a partnership with Pittsburgh-based Neville Venture, a joint venture of US hydrocarbon resins producer Neville Chemical (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; www.nevchem.com) and US process technology provider GTC (Houston, Texas; www.gtctech.com).
Versalis, a subsidiary of Italian energy provider Eni (Milan; www.eni.com), has also secured a licence agreement for producing the C5 feedstock that will feed the new resin facilities. GTC will provide the technology for producing the C5 feedstock for the new resins.
The new resins, which will be sold in Europe, will have synergies with Versalis' elastomers business and will be used in speciality applications such as adhesives, inks, coatings and rubber.
Versalis said the agreements represent an important step in the overhaul of the Priolo site, and will enable the company to make best use of the cuts produced at the existing Priolo cracker. “The overhaul activities began at Priolo represent an example of an industrial integrated model,” said Daniele Ferrari, company CEO.