THE port of Salalah and polyethylene terephthalate manufacturer Octal Petrochemicals have signed an agreement on the storage and transport of chemicals at the Omani port.
The contract oversees the ongoing development of Salalah’s first liquid chemicals terminal, which will support Octal’s production capacity expansion and bolster its profile as regional cargo hub.
Octal will have a dedicated berth to receive tanker shipments and build specialist facilities to pipe liquid chemicals underground to its manufacturing plant in the Salalah Free Zone, and chemicals will be transported via a $50 million purpose-built terminal, or ‘tank farm’, within the port.
The agreement also covers the leasing of land on which the terminal is being built. Two tanks for receiving monoethylene glycol, each with a capacity of 5,000 cu m, have already been completed. A third tank for MEG, a key ingredient in the manufacture of PET, will be delivered by the middle of next year. By 2011, the terminal will comprise nine tanks, three for MEG and the remainder for other liquid chemicals.
Salalah chief executive Martijn van de Linde says the port believed in “co-operation and adapting its services” to serve the specific needs of growing industries.
“The general cargo terminal at Salalah has seen double-digit growth for eight consecutive years,” he says. “We have invested in new deepwater berths and facilities that will cater to the multiple cargo types handled at the port well into the future.”
Octal Petrochemicals’ managing director Nicholas Barakat says it is making a significant investment in order to manage costs and drive business.
“The liquid chemicals tank farm is the first of its type in the region, and by piping chemicals underground to our plant in the Salalah Free Zone the delivery process involves no disruption to the operation of the port and maximises public safety.”
Barakat adds that the piping and supporting infrastructure for the tank farm was already in place and operational.
The new facility is protected by advanced fire-fighting equipment and meets all the health, safety, security and environmental regulations of the Royal Oman Police.
Oman-based Octal announced the launch of its second plant, a 300,000 million tonnes integrated PET resin and sheet facility, in January. Octal expects per annum sales to reach $400 million by the end of 2009, and despite the global economic downturn remains in expansion mode with plans to hire 100 extra staff before the end of the year.
