Italian firm Iplom's 39,500 b/d Busalla refinery in northwest Italy will be under maintenance from October for around 5-6 weeks, affecting all products including bitumen.
The refinery typically uses heavy crude grades, producing around 300,000 t/yr of bitumen, most of it supplied into the domestic market, while some occasional truck volumes are supplied into southern France.
The Busalla refinery also produces and supplies virgin naphtha and diesel fuels, low-sulphur fuel oils from its local depot at Libarna and from the Sigemi depot in Lacchiarella.
Market participants said Iplom plans to build up stocks ahead of the halt to reduce the impact on supplies to the market over the turnaround period.
