Why did Versalis shut down its Brindisi polyethylene unit, and what broader strategic shift does this reflect?

Versalis shut down its Brindisi PE unit—capable of producing 249,000 tonnes/year of linear low-density polyethylene and 279,000 tonnes/year of high-density polyethylene—because it was part of Eni’s €2 billion Versalis transformation plan announced in 2024, aimed at shifting from commodity chemicals to high-value-added sectors. This decision reflects Eni’s explicit assessment that the European base chemicals industry is undergoing a 'structural and irreversible decline', underscored by Versalis’ cumulative cash losses of nearly €7 billion over 15 years (€3 billion in the last five alone). The shutdown followed the permanent closure of the Brindisi naphtha cracker in March 2025, after which the PE unit ran on imported ethylene until its final cessation in July 2025.

What is the link between the Brindisi PE unit shutdown and the new battery factory project?

The shutdown of the Brindisi PE unit was directly tied to a March 2025 framework agreement signed with the Italian Ministry of Enterprises, which linked the decommissioning of the legacy chemical assets to the development of a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery gigafactory—a joint venture between Eni and Seri Industrial that began construction on 6 July 2025—establishing a clear 'replace old capacity with new' ('cage replacement') logic at the Brindisi site.