The Total refinery and its logistics partner SEA-Invest are investing €100m in a capacity expansion project at the Port of Antwerp. The chemical giant Evonik has selected the port as the ideal location to boost the market growth of pyrogenic silica. Meanwhile ATPC has just broken ground on an LNG/ethane tank farm.
Totseanergy, the new joint venture between Total oil company and the SEA-Invest group, investment will see the construction of the new Totseanergy Terminal at the head of the Hansa dock and the 6th Harbour dock.
The investment comprises eight new tanks with a capacity of 20,000 m³ each, three additional loading and unloading bays and a pipeline between the terminal and the Total refinery. Antwerp Port Authority has undertaken to increase the depth alongside quay to 15.5 m.
Since 2010 SEA-Tank has invested €250m in construction of a tank storage farm of 860,000 m³ for Total and its trading division Totsa Total Oil. This additional investment will give Total a combined capacity of more than 100 million m³ in the course of 2019.
Total has been operating in the port of Antwerp since 1951. In more recent years together with SEA-Invest it has played a significant role in doubling the volume of liquid bulk handled by the port. The current investment will give the refinery greater flexibility and enable it to operate more efficiently. The new tanks will take up around a quarter of the space available in the terminal, leaving plenty of room for further expansion.
Evonik is set to invest tens of millions of euros in expanding its production capacity for special silica. The chemical concern has chosen its Antwerp site for the expansion “because of its central location and the modern port facilities,” according to spokesman Danny Erreweyaert. With this investment Evonik is cementing its position as the world’s largest supplier of silica, used as an ingredient in paints and lacquers, modern adhesive systems, transparent silicones and fire-resistant, high-grade insulation materials.
Member of the Management Committee of Evonik Resource Efficiency GmbH, Johannes Ohmer said: “With the expansion of our capacity in Antwerp we seek to drive the market growth for pyrogenic silica in Europe and other important export markets.”
Earlier this month ATPC (Antwerp Terminal and Processing Company) broke ground on the construction of an LPG/ethane tank storage farm of 30,000 m³. The tanks are specially designed for storing ethane, propane, butane and derived products.
The construction of this facility will make ATPC a significant player in the ARA (Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam) storage market for LPG and ethane.
For more information visit www.portofantwerp.com
24th Sept 2017
