INEOS Picks Antwerp for $3.4 Billion Investment

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Petrochemical major INEOS (London, England) has chosen Antwerp in Belgium for two projects worth an estimated 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion).

The investment will see the construction of a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant and an ethane cracker unit at the Port of Antwerp. It is the largest investment in the European chemical industry in the past two decades, INEOS claimed. Industrial Info reported on the company's planned investment back in July, but at the time the location had not been finalised. For additional information, see July 16, 2018, article - INEOS to Build First European Cracker in 20 Years.

For the past year, Industrial Info has been tracking the progress of the planned PDH unit addition at the company's Lilla polyolefin plant near Antwerp. The goal is to produce 750,000 tonnes per year of propylene to address increasing product demands. The ethane cracker unit will be the first cracker to be built in Europe in 20 years.

The new additions will respectively convert propane into propylene and ethylene as the raw materials for chemical products for industries including car manufacturing, building construction, clothing, cosmetics and personal grooming products, pharmaceuticals, electronics and packaging materials.

Both plants will be built at the existing INEOS site in Lillo in the port area and on neighbouring grounds. INEOS will take over unused parts of concessions held by neighbouring companies to ensure "maximum integration with the existing chemical industry", such as the pipelines to various INEOS ethylene and propylene derivative units elsewhere in Europe.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder and chairman of INEOS, said: "Our investment in a gas cracker and world-scale PDH unit is the largest of its kind in Europe for more than a generation and is an important development for the European petrochemical industry. We believe this investment will reverse years of decline in the sector." John McNally, chief executive of the project said: "The selection of Antwerp as a location for these new assets is a significant step-forward for the development of this project. This decision builds upon our long-standing relationship with the Port of Antwerp, the City of Antwerp, and the governments of Flanders and Belgium."

INEOS has a long history operating in Belgium, employing 2,500 people across nine manufacturing sites, with six of these located in Antwerp and three research and technology centres.

Frank Beckx, managing director of essenscia Flanders, said: "After Borealis similarly opted for Antwerp a few months ago, this decision by INEOS puts the chemical sector in Flanders even more firmly on the world map. In particular the construction of a hyper-modern cracking plant based on the very latest technology is of great strategic importance, as not since the 1990s has such an installation been built in western Europe. A cracker produces the essential simple molecules that form the basis of the entire chemical industry. And by creating at least 400 new jobs, the project will be a significant boost to employment in this sector".

The INEOS deal marks another key win for the Port of Antwerp, explained Jacques Vandermeiren, chief executive officer of Antwerp Port Authority: "It once more demonstrates that we as the largest integrated chemical cluster in Europe are very attractive to international investors. Furthermore, propylene and ethylene are the starting points for many other processes, so production of these basic components will further strengthen our raw materials position in the chemical industry and indeed many other industries in our country. This mega-investment brings the total amount of new capital expenditure that we have attracted to Antwerp over the past year to more than 5 billion euros ($5.7 billion)."

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