Petrochem ME invests in new chemical terminal in Jebel Ali Port
Petrochem Middle East, the largest chemical distributor in the Middle East and Africa, has signed a 30-year lease agreement with DP World, to expand its business in the region.
Petrochem Middle East will invest between USD80 million and USD90 million in developing a chemical terminal on Quay 7, adjacent to the dedicated chemical handling berth within Jebel Ali Port. Petrochem Middle East proposes to build 24-30 bulk chemicals storage tanks of different size large and small and some stainless-steel tanks with an overall capacity of 40,000 m3. It also includes a day tank farm, tanker and truck loading facility, nitrogen generation plant and automatic drum filling machines.
The agreement was signed by Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO of DP World, and Yogesh Mehta, CEO, Petrochem Middle East, in the presence of Abdulla Bin Damithan, CEO and managing director, DP World – UAE Region and Jafza.
“The UAE and the Middle East region for years have been recognised as a thriving hub for the petrochemical industry. Despite the highly unstable market due to the pandemic, over the course of 2020, the GCC’s chemical output expanded by 1.5% compared to a global decline of 2.6%. These figures showcase the resilience of the sector and the potential it has,” says Abdulla Bin Damithan.
DP World, UAE Region’s trade and logistics hub including Jebel Ali Port and Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), has contributed for years to the region’s chemicals’ trade and logistics with its state-of-the-art ecosystem. While the port supports more than 10,000 chemical manufacturers and traders, the free zone has a petrochemical cluster that spreads over an area of four million square metres (sqm), housing more than 500 petrochemical companies. In addition to container terminals with 22.4 Mn TEU capacity, the Jebel Ali port that has 11 berths, also features a liquid bulk terminal, spread across two million sqm.
The facility is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2023 and will provide chemical raw materials in large volumes to traditional and new industries coming in the UAE. In its peak capacity, the terminal will have a capacity of approximately 40,000 CBM for storage of various products and will also be fitted with distillation and processing units.
“Our existing state-of-the-art Jebel Ali terminal has helped us strengthen the portfolios of our clients, while helping us offer prompt logistics services and specially blended quality products,” says Mehta “Today, our annual turnover is over AED2.5 billion (USD680 million) and with the new project, we are expecting short term and long-term gains of about 10-15% of our investment.”
