Ports & Storage
September / October 2018
Ports & Storage
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BULKDISTRIBUTOR
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Antwerp , Europe ’ s second largest seaport , is on the rise
The Belgian Port of Antwerp completed the first half of 2018 with a new record in freight volumes . A total of 118.6 million tons of goods were handled at Europe ’ s second largest seaport in the first six months , representing an increase of 6.5 percent compared to the same period last year . The main driver continued to be the container freight , which experienced further rapid growth of 8.2 percent to 66.2 million tons and , measured in TEU , of 8.3 percent to 5.6 million TEU . Within liquid bulk , chemical products were the main contributors to the growth with a significant increase of 8.2 percent . Oil derivatives , which account for the largest share in the liquid bulk segment , also recorded a stable plus of 6.4 percent . These growth figures underline the importance of Antwerp for the chemical industry . The port is home to Europe ’ s largest integrated chemical and petrochemical cluster . Many industry leaders have built their production facilities here , such as BASF , Covestro , Borealis or Nippon Shokubai . For this Japanese company , this was the largest foreign investment to date . € 350 million were spent on the construction of the superabsorbent polymers facility as well as an acrylic acid plant in Antwerp . An important argument for the Antwerp site is the high degree of integration , which is reflected along the entire chemical supply chain – from raw material supply through production and energy management to waste processing or administrative , technical and logistical services . It
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Advanced Polymer Coatings 3 Alfred Talke 20 Bluepack 3 , 7 , 14 , 19 CIMC 4 Eurotainer 5 Fort Vale 14 Groninger Cleaning Systems BV 10 Hoyer 1 Intermodal Europe 21 Lohia 18 MiMu 8 Newson Gale 2 NTTank 7 Port of Antwerp 24 Scully 11 Seaco Global 17
Borealis is mulling a new world-scale propane dehydrogenation plant at its existing production site in Kallo
is no coincidence that both new and existing companies continue to invest in the site .
Growing steadily
There are also plans for developing the cluster . Evonik is to invest millions of euros in expanding its production capacities for specialty silicates , and Air Liquide will invest € 80 million in the construction of a hydrogen production plant as a part of a new long term contract between the company and Covestro for the supply of hydrogen . Moreover , Antwerp is under discussion for investments by Borealis . After a successful feasibility study , Borealis is continuing with the
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Bulk Liquid Storage Europe 2018 3-4 October 2018 Cartagena , Spain www . wplgroup . com
European Petrochemical Association 7-10 October 2018 Vienna , Austria www . epca . eu
Intermodal Europe 6-8 November 2018 Rotterdam , Netherlands www . intermodal-events . com
ITCO Regional Meeting 21 November 2018 Singapore www . international-tank-container . org technical study for a new world-scale propane dehydrogenation ( PDH ) plant at its existing production site in Kallo . With increasing investments in this sector , Antwerp is preparing to become Europe ’ s main chemical hub in the future . In addition to investments in production facilities , there is also a whole series of investments in tank farms . A quarter of all chemicals in Europe are already stored in Antwerp , and the trend is rising . Oiltanking , for instance , is currently building the world ’ s largest butane gas tank for Ineos in Antwerp . Operations are scheduled to start on Oiltanking ’ s Antwerp Gas Terminal ( AGT ) in 2019 and will have a capacity of 135,000 cbm . At this year ’ s EPCA annual meeting in Vienna , Port of Antwerp will provide information regarding all possibilities and potential investment opportunities of the port in its own lounge under the motto ‘ Feel the Chemistry ’.
Sustainability mission
Sustainability is a central element in all areas and activities of the Belgian Port . In order to reach common goals , all companies in the port community are pulling in the same direction . For one year now , Antwerp has participated in the international Operation Clean Sweep initiative of the chemical industry . Antwerp Port Authority has set up an exemplary co-operation between industry , logistics and the transport industry in its port area , making it the first port in Europe to implement the ‘ Zero Pellet Loss ’ programme . Antwerp is the largest integrated petrochemical cluster in Europe and also its most important polymer hub . The port serves as a hub for the production , handling and distribution of plastic granulates . Every year , millions of these small pellets make their way via Antwerp to other European locations . In order to reduce to a minimum any spill of the plastic raw material into the environment and waters , companies in the port have committed themselves to implement the ‘ Zero Pellet Loss ’ programme and Operation Clean Sweep , an international agreement supported by PlasticsEurope to prevent plastic material from entering the environment . For the first time , manufacturers , logistics companies and the transport industry are working together to avoid small plastic pellets spilling along the entire supply chain . The Zero Pellet Loss platform is used to bundle the initiatives in Antwerp . For example , weekly inspections are organised to identify places where plastics could possibly have been released . Afterwards , the pollution is traced back to its cause and appropriate precautions are taken to prevent future contamination . This is monitored by an incident manager , who also controls all measures to remove quickly the contamination .
Committed to UN objectives
Whether chemical industry , logistics service providers or Antwerp Port Authority itself – sustainability determines the way the port thinks and acts . This is made clear in the Sustainability Report , which was published in its fourth edition at the end of 2017 and provides an overview of the corresponding , diverse initiatives in the port . These initiatives are committed to the 17 UN goals for sustainable development and are oriented towards the needs of people , nature and the economy . Accordingly , two out of five priorities in the strategy of the port authority are aimed at sustainability : ‘ Sustainable growth ’ to develop the available space in the port as efficiently and future-oriented as possible , and ‘ sustainable transition ’ to a circular and low-carbon economy . For the 88 ha Churchill Industrial Zone , for example , the port authority is currently looking for investors from the circular economy that will bring synergy effects to the cluster and help to save CO2 emissions . As a special incentive for such projects , Port of Antwerp is presenting a Sustainability Award . In 2016 , this award went to the ECLUSE project , which aims to replace gradually the energy supply of chemical companies on the left bank of the Scheldt River with ‘ green ’ heat . Heat in the form of steam is produced in the waste-to-energy plants of the waste recycling company Indaver and its joint venture Sleco , while the heat distribution network is being built up by Infrax . Once the ECLUSE project reaches full capacity , it will be one of the largest industrial heat clusters in Europe , saving around 100,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually . The next Sustainability Award will be presented in 2019 . Many chemical companies have already submitted their sustainable projects . All these aspects show only part of the sustainable activities in Antwerp . Water buses for employees , the promotion of renewable energy and environmental services , or extensive research and development work , for example in the field of digitalisation , are also among the many initiatives that form a big picture .
Silver / CIMS 8 Stoc Expo Europe 22 Transaid 19 TWS 6 VTG AG 13
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Tank Storage Germany 5-6 December 2018 Hamburg , Germany www . easyfairs . com
Intermodal South America 19-21 March 2019 Sao Paolo , Brazil www . intermodal . com . br
Oiltanking is building the world ’ s largest butane gas tank for Ineos at Antwerp Gas Terminal