However, although that is the scheduled date for the start of work, the original plan cannot be fulfilled. In a scenario marked by union conflict, in the state company they already know that in the best of cases maintenance tasks could begin just 15 days later.
The other difficulty is that there is no certainty as to how long the technical shutdown could take. Initially it was scheduled to do so within three to four months if you work every day (in two 12-hour shifts).
But if the union (fancap) finally decides to work in a fixed shift of eight hours and from Monday to Friday, the stop could be delayed up to nine months. This is because the maintenance and logistics sector would no longer sign work permits for the outsourced companies in charge of doing so.
All of this translates into millionaire costs that the company could have to face, first because it will lose the refining margin for longer than expected, and second because it is exposed to having to pay fines for non-compliance with contracting firms.
Leonardo Carreno
altered plans
The technical stop requires a large amount of preparatory work that is affected today, and therefore are out of date with respect to the original calendar. This is due to protest measures applied by the Fancap union in rejection of the decision of the Ancap Board of Directors to incorporate one or more private partners into the Portland and Cal production business.
For example, one of the main scheduled tasks is the replacement of the top cap of the cracking reactor. For that, a special crane will be used that is contracted abroad. All the logistics of procedures and permits necessary to carry out this operation in the bay of Montevideo has not been able to be carried out as planned either. In addition, there are delays in the usual maintenance of the plant.
Companies and newspapers
At the peak of the technical stop there will be 2,000 people working, both national and foreign contractors, covering items related to construction, metallurgy, among others. Today the realization of these wages can be seen postponed.
For example, there are around 16 contractor companies that today know that they will not be able to start work on the date they had planned. This means in some cases sending staff to unemployment insurance for the delay of the work, since they stopped taking other tasks.
In addition, it implies that Ancap will eventually have to pay fines for each day of delay, to the extent that the commitments already assumed in the contracts are not met.
The president of the entity, Alejandro Stipanicic, said this Thursday to The Observer that this involves significant amounts of money, although he preferred not to give figures because not all contracts are the same.
Leonardo Carreno
“Without a back”
The time that the technical stoppage lasts implies the need to have to import refined fuel to replace own production. For a period of four months (original plan) some 600 thousand cubic meters had been estimated.
It also implies that Ancap stops receiving the refining margin for that time.
“If the refinery does not work, Ancap’s back does not exist. (…) If the refinery does not work, it will stop receiving a margin of US$ 20 per barrel. Each month 1.2 million barrels are processed. If the strike that was planned instead of taking four months lasts nine, it is a considerable impact. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen,” Stipanicic said.
The closure could be brought forward
In the last few hours Fancap expressed its decision to carry out a general stoppage of activities the day that the authorities of the Executive Branch and the Ancap Board of Directors are summoned to Parliament for the Portland issue.
As today there is no collective agreement, there is no regulatory framework on union guards for the continuous processes of that industry and that must be negotiated.
If the union does not grant the union guards for the normal operation of the refinery, the company plans to shut down the industrial complex, empty the refinery and place it in a “safe condition”. The plant would not work again given the proximity to the month of September.
This will have not only economic and financial impacts, but also employment. A source from the entity said Thursday to The Observer that there is a decision to apply the discounts that correspond to officials who do not go to work, for example.
He also added that if there is no possibility of producing, all the fuel needed to ensure the supply of the demand will be imported.
“We are going to continue towards the association”
Fancap demands that it be left without effect the call for international bidding to incorporate a private company into the portland business and that it remains under state management.
The majority of the Board of Directors maintains that the decision has been made and that it will move forward. In the state-owned company, the situation of the Portland division, which has been dragging numbers in the red for two decades and without interruption, is considered unsustainable.
“We claim the legitimacy that the competent authority of Ancap has to make decisions about business, a decision that does not correspond to a union. We are willing to negotiate conditions that affect the organization of work, as appropriate, but company decisions are made by the company. (…) We are going to continue towards the association”, stated Stipanicic.
Last week Ancap’s Board of Directors resolved to extend the call until September 12. This after two interested companies asked for more time to submit their offers.
