Inter Terminals is building six new 1,500 cbm stainless steel tanks at its storage facility near Mannheim, Germany. The €6 million investment in additional capacity is in direct response to strong demand for specialty chemical storage services from south-west Germany’s prospering chemical production industry.
The expansion will add 9,000 cbm of storage to existing mild and stainless steel tankage at the two-terminal complex on the River Rhine. Once commissioned by the end of 2015, the Mannheim Terminals’ total storage capacity will be 312,000 cbm in 140 tanks.
Conveniently close to Europe’s leading chemical production plants, the Mannheim terminals are well placed to meet a growth in demand for chemical storage on the Rhine, particularly for high grade products requiring stainless steel tanks. This demand reflects world scale production in the region and increased product shipments of commodities, raw materials, various polymer intermediates and finished product. Higher quality standards, requiring segregated storage for individual quality grades, are also influencing regional requirements for chemical storage.
Commenting on the latest investment, Frank Schulze, managing director of Inter Terminals Mannheim GmbH, said: “Generally speaking, the chemical industry invests preferentially in production rather than storage. While some chemical plants do have their own storage facilities, there is still a requirement for excess capacity to be outsourced, or for buffering while production facilities undergo maintenance and repair.”
