INEOS picks Antwerp for €3bn cracker and PDH unit

INEOS has selected Antwerp in Belgium as the site for its €3bn (US$3.4bn) investment in the first cracker built in Europe for 20 years. The chemicals major announced in July last year that it was looking for a site in Europe to build a new ethane cracker and propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit. The value of the project has since climbed from €2.7bn to €3bn, which the company says is the largest investment made by any firm in the chemicals sector in Europe for 20 years. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, CEO of INEOS, said: “Our investment...is the largest of its kind in Europe for more than a generation and is an important development for the European petrochemical industry. We believe this investment will reverse years of decline in the European chemicals sector.”