APLA ’07: Vopak expands in Santos, Brazil

19 November 2007 20:05  [Source: ICIS news]

BUENOS AIRES (ICIS news)--Vopak is expanding its operations at the port of Santos in Sao Paulo state, southeast Brazil, in response to rising bioethanol exports, Eelco Hoekstra, president of Vopak Latin America, said on Monday.

“There’s a clear growth pattern with respect to exports of ethanol from Brazil,” Hoekstra said from the sidelines of the Latin American Petrochemical Association (APLA) annual meeting here.

Storage capacity at Vopak’s Alemoa terminal in Santos will be raised by 40,000m³ to 160,000 m³, he said. The new capacity will support mainly ethanol exports, as well as chemicals imports.

The ethanol is exported to three key locations: Korea/Japan, Rotterdam and Houston, he said. Vopak is expanding in Rotterdam in response to the rising imports of Brazilian ethanol into Europe, he added.

Construction at the Alemoa terminal is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter this year, and the new capacity is expected to become available in the first quarter of 2009, Hoekstra said. He declined to reveal the investment cost.

The port of Santos is the largest in Latin America.

Vopak also has a terminal in Ilha Barnabe at Santos port, as well as in Aratu in Bahia state, northeast Brazil and in Paranagua, in Parana state, southern Brazil.

Hoekstra said the company is also expanding its terminals in Altamira in Mexico, Puerto Cabello in Venezuela and San Antonio in Chile.

In Altamira, an additional 30,000 m³  will become available in January 2008, and an extra 20,000 m³ will become available in Puerto Cabello next month.

In San Antonio, Vopak is renewing some tanks and adding 3,000 m3 of capacity at the end of 2008, added Hoekstra.

By: Anna Jagger
+44 20 8652 3214

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly