Antwerp Port Authority acquires NMP pipeline company
Antwerp Port Authority is to acquire Nationale Maatschappij der Pijpleidingen (NMP) from its current shareholders Ackermans & van Haaren and Electrabel. With the takeover Antwerp Port Authority will gain ownership and control of 720 kilometers of pipelines, 90 per cent of which serve the chemical and petrochemical companies in the port of Antwerp and its hinterland. The Port Authority is paying EUR 44 million for the NMP shares.
“Pipelines are the ideal mode of transport for the chemical industry and oil refining,” explains Port Authority CEO Jacques Vandermeiren. “By giving them access to a pipeline network that is open to all users we gain on at least two fronts: we help to reinforce the presence in the port of this sector which is so important for the economy of Belgian and Flanders, and the many logistics flows in and around the port area are further established in the Antwerp region.”
The current NMP portfolio is mainly concentrated in the port of Antwerp and pipelines leading to and from it. NMP at present obtains 86 per cent of its income from 600 kilometers of pipelines within the port area or connecting the Antwerp cluster companies with petrochemical companies in Kempen (Flanders) and Feluy (Wallonia). Another 11 per cent comes from joint ventures that manage 117.5 kilometers of pipeline, of which 67.8 kilometers is located in the port of Antwerp.
NMP was set up in 1978 by the Belgian State in order to coordinate the Belgian pipeline network for transport of petrochemical products. The shares in the company were until now held 75% by Ackermans & van Haaren and 25% by Electrabel.