The new deep-sea terminal, at the heart of the second largest Petrochemical region in the world, is now fully operational.
Hans Casier, CEO INEOS Oxide says: "This is a major step for INEOS which will secure the long term viability of its business located at the Antwerp site and connected along side the ARG pipeline. The terminal allows us to access ethylene from world markets at competitive costs, which means we can continue to compete successfully on a global basis."
The Minister-President of Flanders, Kris Peeters, has officially opened the one million tonne, deep-sea ethylene terminal at the INEOS Oxide facility located close to Antwerp harbour, Belgium.
The new deep-sea terminal, which is at the heart of the second largest Petrochemical region in the world, is now fully operational
Capable of unloading shipments of ethylene from the world’s largest ethylene vessels, the terminal directly supplies the needs of both those INEOS ethylene derivative plants located directly at the Antwerp site and those which are connected along the ARG ethylene pipeline, which links Antwerp to Köln and the Ruhr industrial areas.
On opening the terminal, Minister-President of Flanders, Kris Peeters, said: "This new terminal gives a new strength to the petrochemical cluster in Antwerp, which for the past fifty years has brought skilled jobs and prosperity to Flanders. This investment shows that INEOS sees a future in Antwerp and is a sign that the policy of Flanders is starting to bear fruit."
INEOS has a very large demand for ethylene, supplied substantially by its own production from several steam crackers across Europe. To balance the shortfall the company has traditionally bought ethylene from other companies that sit on the ARG pipeline. The new one million tonne deep sea terminal now presents an opportunity for INEOS to import competitively priced ethylene from around the world, thereby improving its flexibility.
Hans Casier, CEO INEOS Oxide, said: "This is a major step for INEOS. The new terminal secures the competitiveness of our site and underlines the importance of our production facilities in Antwerp, located at the heart of the largest Petrochemical area of Europe. By opening up access for us to world ethylene markets we can now secure a competitively priced raw material for our European plants located at the Antwerp site and connected along the ARG pipeline."
By connecting the terminal to INEOS Oxide in Antwerp and beyond via the ARG pipeline to INEOS Oligomers LAO/PAO facility in Feluy Belgium, and INEOS Olefins & Polymers in Lillo and Köln, INEOS will now be able to supply competitively priced ethylene to efficiently balance its requirements across many of its main European facilities.
INEOS Oxide, part of the INEOS Group of Companies, is a leading producer of Ethylene Oxide and Ethylene Oxide Derivatives, Propylene Oxide and Propylene Oxide Derivatives, plus a range of solvents and speciality chemicals, with production facilities in Antwerp Belgium, Köln Germany, Lavéra France, Plaquemine Louisiana, Freeport Texas and Hull in the United Kingdom.
ENDS.
For further information contact:
Richard Longden – INEOS - Phone: +41 799 626 123
Note to editors:
*ARG (formerly Aethylen-Rohrleitungsgesellschaft) operates a pipeline grid linking Antwerp to Cologne and the Ruhr industrial area. This network forms the backbone of ethylene production in Western Europe. ARG also connects the market in Rotterdam.
Some facts about INEOS Oxide
Ethylene is the key building block for the petrochemical industry. It is the main product of the steam cracking of hydrocarbons such as naphtha and ethane and the main raw material for INEOS Oxide, whose products are used in a very broad range of end applications:
- INEOS Oxide’s Mono Propylene Glycol is extensively used in wide range of cosmetic formulations for personal care, skin & hair care, oral care, baby care & fragrances.
- Our products are used in shaving cream formulations for the world’s leading brands. We supply sufficient product each year for 9 billion shaves.
- Our products are used in the cleaning process of every one of the 58 million iPad’s sold in 2012.
- The Mono Ethylene Glycol that we produce at Antwerp and Köln is sufficient to produce 40 billion PET bottles each year. Put end to end they would circle the earth 200 times.
- Our high quality Solid Poly Ethylene Glycol is used widely in the pharmaceutical industry for the production of tablets. Our Antwerp facility alone produces enough product to make one billion tablets each year.
- We also produce Mono Propylene Glycol which is used for deicing aircraft. Our facility in Köln, produces enough to deice 40,000 planes every winter.
- INEOS Oxide also produces MPEGs that are important super plasticizer additives used in the production of fast drying, super hard concrete. With the help of our MPEGs we could help build 100 Burj Khalifas a year.
- Our Butyl Glycol Ethers (BGE’s) made in Lavéra are used extensively in the coatings industry. We produce enough to paint over 100,000 of the worlds biggest oil tankers every year. These products are also used in the paint formulations and our total production could paint over 30 million cars a year.