Ground Breaking Petrochemical Investment
Ineos Selected the Port of Antwerp as Location
Celebratory signing of the mega-investment in the Antwerp Port House (© Antwerp Port Authority)
The chemical company Ineos has selected the Port of Antwerp as the location for its EUR 3 billion mega-investment. At the beginning of the year, Ineos had announced the major investment as part of the further expansion of its chemical plants. There were several European sites to choose from, but in the end, the British chemical group decide upon Belgium.
Ineos plans to build a brand new ethane gas cracker and a world-scale propane dehydrogenation unit (PDH). These are needed to convert propane or ethane into propylene and ethylene. The investment will be made at the existing Lillo site in the Antwerp port area and adjacent areas. For this purpose, the company will take over unused partial concessions from neighboring companies.
The company already has a major presence in Belgium, employing 2500 people across 9 manufacturing sites, with 6 of these located in Antwerp and 3 research and technology centers. The new facilities will then be connected by pipeline to various facilities in surrounding areas.
Jobs for Antwerp
The completion of a project of this magnitude usually takes four to five years. Accordingly, the new production facilities are expected to go into operation by 2024. After commissioning, they will create 400 direct full-time jobs and five times indirect jobs.
Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of the Antwerp Port Authority, emphasizes: "The fact that Ineos has decided to invest in our port with this investment is, of course, extremely gratifying news. Once again, it shows that we, as the largest integrated chemistry cluster in Europe, have a strong attraction for international investors. Moreover, the production of propylene and ethylene is the basis for many other processes, so the manufacture of these base components will further strengthen our raw material positioning in the chemical industry and many other industries in our country."
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