Ineos and Imperial Logistics to build Europe’s largest butane barges

At the start of the week Ineos and Imperial Logistics signed a partner contract to design and build the largest butane river barges ever used in Europe. These barges will link the world’s largest butane tank being constructed at the Oiltanking Antwerp Gas Terminal (OTAGT) in the Port of Antwerp, Belgium, with the Ineos site in Köln to enable one of the largest crackers in Europe to be supplied with large volumes of butane as well as naphtha as a source of feedstock.

These new state of the art barges will move about 3,000 tonnes butane each, which is about three times as much as the current barges move on the Rhine system. The shipyards to build these new barges will be selected in the near future and the barges will be operational in 2019.

Hugh Carmichael, Direktor Ineos Trading & Shipping said: “The new butane tank in Antwerp and the Imperial butane river barges provide INEOS with increased flexibility and security of supply that will significantly improve our competitiveness in Europe. It also positions Ineos as a major player in global LPG markets.”

Ineos continues to invest in supply chain flexibility of its European facilities. Today’s announcement builds on its commitment to invest more than 1 billion USD into the supply of ethane from the USA, securing the competitiveness of its gas crackers in Europe, located at Grangemouth, UK, and Rafnes, Norway.

Ineos is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, speciality chemicals and oil products. It comprises 25 businesses each with a major chemical company heritage. Its production network spans 105 manufacturing facilities in 22 countries throughout the world, employing 18,500 people.

www.ineos.com; www.imperial-international.com