Vopak Mulls Options for Australia Terminals, Opens US Site
Dutch multinational storage operator Vopak is exploring strategic options for its terminals in Australia, which it said may or may not result in a sale. The review is part of its strategy to strengthen its leading hub positions and allocate the majority of investments toward industrial, chemicals, gas and new energies infrastructures.
Vopak has two terminals in Australia, one in Darwin that handles petroleum, chemicals and vegoil with total capacity of 173,583 m3, and another in Sydney for petroleum with a capacity of 371,650 m3.
The company has previously sold off some unwanted facilities. On Jan. 31, 2020, it completed the divestment of an oil teminal in Algeciras, Spain, to First State Investments. On Dec. 20, 2019, Vopak also finalized the sale of its 49% equity stake in its joint venture Vopak SDIC Yangpu Terminal in Hainan, China.
Separately, on Oct. 28, Vopak opened a new industrial terminal on the US Gulf Coast, offering tankage of 144,000 m3 for serving Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV), a JV set up by ExxonMobil and SABIC to manufacture plastics in San Patricio County, Texas. Vopak said the terminal has a 20-year commercial agreement with GCGV.
ExxonMobil and SABIC announced on Jul. 26 that they had reached mechanical completion of a monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit and two PE plants at the site and project startup was expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The facility, which also includes a 1.8 million t/y ethane steam cracker, will produce 1.1 million t/y of MEG and 1.3 million t/y of PE.
Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist
