Gunvor to Close Crude Unit at Rotterdam Refinery

Swiss-based trading house Gunvor plans to close a crude distillation unit at the 88,000 barrel per day (bpd) Rotterdam refinery, which it is in the final stages of purchasing from Kuwait Petroleum, the refinery union told Reuters.

The FNV union's Egbert Schellenberg said the decision would mean cutting 25 percent of the refinery's roughly 350-strong workforce.

The closure is part of a plan to end lubricants production at the site, union and trade sources said, and operate the remaining distillation capacity of around 50,000 bpd in conjunction with Gunvor's nearby Antwerp refinery.

Gunvor declined comment on the plan while discussions were ongoing. The deal itself is still subject to regulatory approval.

Chief Executive Torbjörn Törnqvist told the Reuters Global Commodities Summit that compatibility with its Antwerp refinery was a key factor in the Rotterdam purchase.

"It does have certain synergies with our Antwerp operation," he said, adding from this point of view, he thought it made sense.

Others bidders for the complex had planned to convert it into a storage terminal, which union sources previously said would whittle its employment down to around 80 people.

Should the purchase go through, Gunvor would operate nearly 300,000 bpd of refining in Europe. While Törnqvist said overall refinery margins in Europe are in for a hard landing, Gunvor had insulated its refining assets against the downturn.

(Reporting by Libby George and Ron Bousso)