In July last year, petrochemical giant Ineos announced that it would build a world-class production base, which was narrowed to between Antwerp and the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.

Recently, the site selection of this 3 billion euro project has finally been finalized.

Ineos will spend €3 billion to build a world-class 1.25 million ton ethane cracker and a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant with an annual capacity of 750,000 tons of propylene at the heart of the industrial port of Antwerp, Belgium. This is the biggest investment of INEOS in recent years, and it is also the largest of its kind in Europe in recent years.

Jim Ratcliffe, founder and chairman of INEOS, said the investment that brought disruptive changes to the industry was the biggest investment in INEOS in recent years, and it was once for the European petrochemical industry. A major breakthrough, it is reported that the project is mainly to meet the needs of the European market.

Prior to the proposed investment, INEOS announced a series of proposed land acquisition plans in 2017 to expand its ethylene and propylene production capacity in Europe to support the continued growth of the company's European petrochemical business.

The new production base will be the first cracking plant in Europe in 20 years, and its raw materials will use US shale gas.

Ratcliffe called for a “competitive” industry environment in Europe. He said that the investment of INEOS is of great significance to the European chemical industry, because the chemical industry in Europe is now "far behind" the United States and China.

"Energy is a big problem, but to be precise, Europe does not face this problem directly. If we do not import shale gas from the United States, we will not be able to prove the economic rationality of this investment." Ratcliffe said.

Ratcliffe said that in support of the Antwerp project, INEOS will increase its investment in the use of its own transatlantic freighter to import shale gas from the United States.

The new production site will be produced in conjunction with INEOS' existing plant in Lilo (central Port of Antwerp) and will be connected to other EI and other ethylene and propylene derivative units in North Central Europe via a pipeline.

The construction of the two new plants is expected to take four to five years and is scheduled to be officially put into production in 2024.

INEOS said that the production base will use the most advanced and environmentally friendly production technology to lay the foundation for the company to maintain a "sustainable cost advantage."

INEOS currently has 2,500 employees, a technology center and nine production sites in Belgium, six of which are located in Antwerp, Europe's largest petrochemical industrial center.

“The final location of the project in Antwerp is significant for its future development,” said project leader John McNally.

“The final decision is based on our long-term relationship with the Port of Antwerp, Antwerp and the Flemish Region and the Belgian government,” McNally said.