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TotalEnergies Manufacturing Site at the port of Antwerpen ©Belga

TotalEnergies closes one of its two steam crackers in Antwerp, 253 jobs disappear "without layoffs"

Antwerpen, 22 April 2025 -- TotalEnergies will close one of its two steam crackers in the port of Antwerp, a decision that will impact more than 250 jobs. No forced layoffs will be announced, according to the energy group.

By 2028, the chemical cluster in the port of Antwerp will lose one of its three steam crackers. TotalEnergies has chosen to shut down its oldest Naphtha Cracker (NC2). The reason is a concerning overcapacity in the petrochemical market. Although 253 positions are affected by this closure, management seeks to reassure: no forced departures are on the horizon.

“We assure every employee of the affected steam cracker that they will be able to continue their activity at our Antwerp site,” says Ann Veraverbeke, CEO, in an interview with Gazet van Antwerpen. “This transition is possible because, by early 2028, 270 of our employees in Antwerp will reach the legal retirement age. The 253 employees from the old steam cracker will be essential to fill this wave of departures.”

Ethylene overcapacity

NC2, a petrochemical facility that transforms hydrocarbons into basic molecules used in the chemical industry, was “historically dependent” on a contract with a user of the ethylene produced, who did not wish to renew this contract, the French oil and gas group specified.

The facility “will no longer have outlets for its ethylene production” and TotalEnergies will “focus on its newest steam cracker (NC3), whose ethylene production is entirely consumed by TotalEnergies’ units in Antwerp and Feluy,” it added.

2017 Revamp of Naphtha Cracker 3

As part of a project to upgrade its refining and chemicals platform in Antwerp, TotalEnergies had started up a new ethylene cracker that runs on ethane feedstock in July 2017, investing nearly $60 million to revamp its Naphtha Cracker 3 to run on the light feed and the adaption of the site’s terminal to enable the import of 200,000 t of ethane per year by ship from Norway. The revamp was done to optimize supply by providing flexibility for the cracker to use either ethane, butane or naphtha as feedstock, so that advantaged feedstock could therefore account for more than 50% total input.

#totalenergies  #antwerp  #belgium  #petrochemicals  #steamcracker  #naphthacracker  #plantclosure  #ethylene 

19 Sep 2024, Heavy Lifting News

deugro Delivers with Arrival of Second Shipment for INEOS Project One.

The second shipment with the last 5 massive storage bullets for the INEOS Project One has just arrived on board the MV Fairmaster for discharging in  Antwerp.

Both the first shipment with the MV Fairplayer and this voyage from Zhangjiagang,  China, were organized by deugro within a tight schedule from order to loading!

The details of the shipment are:

50,572.4m³ Total Volume
6,547.8 metric tons Total weight


24 Sept 2024, INEOS + AG&P INDUSTRIAL

AG&P Industrial (Atlantic, Gulf, & Pacific Company of Manila, Inc.) has completed the fabrication and shipment of the first batch of Outside Battery Limit (OSBL) modules with a total weight of 1,432.47MT for its first-ever  European contract with London-based INEOS, the fourth largest chemical company in the world. Fabricated in AG&P Industrial’s state-of-the art fabrication yard in Batangas,  Philippines, the modules were shipped to Port of Antwerp, Belgium, the second largest chemical site in the world.

AG&P Industrial, selected from among top 15 yards globally, to ship a total of 77 pre-assembled pipe rack modules and 58 pre-assembled support structures, weighing 10,443 MT for modules and 274 MT for support structures for INEOS Project ONE. AG&P Industrial’s last shipment is expected sail by February 2025.


5 Nov 2024, Project Cargo Journal

International transport and logistics company AsstrA recently completed the first phase of the OSBL module transportation for the Ineos Project One.
The company’s Industrial Project Logistics team moved a total of eight modules from the Philippines to Belgium via the Cape of Good Hope. Some of the modules measured 39 x 12 x 11 metres.

According to AsstrA, the delivery marks a milestone for Asstra Industrial Project Logistics as it is projected to transport almost 100 modules under this contract. It equates to more than 230,000 cubic metres of cargo.

The first batch of modules was transported by one of United Heavy Lift’s F900 heavy-lift multipurpose vessel, the UHL Flair.


Project One represents the largest investment in European chemistry in the past 25 years. The cracker, which will be the most sustainable of its kind, will be commissioned in 2026, according to Ineos. The facility will have a nameplate capacity of 1450kt of ethylene per year.

#ineos  #projectone  #cracker  #antwerp  #belgium  #steamcracker