The city of Antwerp / Belgium is apparently the favoured site. According to Belgian media reports, Ineos (Rolle / Switzerland; www.ineos.com) has expansion plans for ethylene and propylene production in the Belgian port city.

In 2017, the chemical and plastics giant decided to build a new world scale ethylene cracker in Europe, with ethane serving as feedstock – see Plasteurope.com of 19.06.2017. The EUR 1.7 bn facility would be the first cracker built in continental Europe in 20 years. In addition, a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant with a capacity of 750,000 t/y of propylene is planned at the same site – specifically, Lillo in the port of Antwerp is under discussion. The facilities are to be supplied from US shale gas reserves and the total investment amounts to EUR 2.7 bn.

Antwerp is a choice location since customers for the products are situated primarily in the area. The construction phase is expected to take four to five years, during which up to 3,000 people could be employed. After completion, 500 jobs will be created, reports Belgian newspaper De Tijd. The company has yet to comment on the reports.