Tarragona aims for hub status

THE PLACE TO BE

CHEMICAL HUB • TARRAGONA’S AMBITIONS FOR GROWTH WERE EXPLORED AT THE RECENT MED HUB DAY, WHICH LOOKED AT THE FACILITIES THAT WILL NEED TO BE IN PLACE TO SERVE INDUSTRY IN THE FUTURE

FOR SOME YEARS now, Port Tarragona has expressed its intent to develop a bulk liquids chemical hub for the western Mediterranean, leveraging its advantages in terms of the existing infrastructure for chemical production and storage, its deepwater location and its links to the hinterland within Spain. To help pursue that ambition, Port Tarragona has been organising a ‘Med Hub Day’ each November and the fifth such ‘day’ (actually, two half days) took place in a hybrid format this past 18 and 19 November. The aim is to bring together various interests involved in one way or another with the transport and storage of liquid chemicals in bulk, to discuss what needs to be done and what common challenges the sector faces. Coming at this point in the Covid pandemic, this fifth Med Hub Day had plenty to talk about, not least the impending impact of decarbonisation and the implementation of the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ carbon reduction targets.

The president of Port Tarragona, Josep M Cruset i Domènech, opened the event by remarking that the global pandemic has led to some difficult times in the sector but has brought home to the public the importance of the logistics function in delivering energy, food and consumer goods. Furthermore, periods of change are often full of opportunity and Tarragona has continued to invest in capacity and maintaining continuity, seeing a significant increase in traffic in 2021. Tarragona now handles more than half of the chemicals and liquefied gases imported into Spain and, with plans for greater connectivity – not least the planned arrival of the Mediterranean rail corridor in 2023 – there is more to come.

WHERE THE TRADE GOES Port Tarragona has been doing some research into the position of the port and the region as a whole in terms of bulk liquid traffic. Local boy Jordi Anglès Jové, commercial coordinator at Port Tarragona, presented some interesting figures, showing that the main western Mediterranean ports handled a total of 365m tonnes of liquid bulk in 2019, of which 48 per cent was crude oil. Chemicals accounted for just 4 per cent, indicating that there may be room for growth, he said.

Perhaps more alarmingly, Anglès said, the region’s ports are highly dependent on hydrocarbons, which account for some 82 per cent of liquids throughput. Ports need to be aware of the oil companies’ strategic plans to meet carbon reduction targets in 2030 and 2050, as well as those of ship operators, especially for ports with a focus on bunkering.

Port Tarragona has now moved onto a second phase of research for its internal use, looking at the relationship between current port traffic levels in the region and the location of the main centres of chemical and petrochemical production. Most such chemical parks are located close to ports, highlighting the crucial role of logistics. However, Anglès noted, Spanish ports differ from others in the region in having a greater diversity of products and terminals, and a more local vision. And within the Spanish market, Tarragona seems best placed to take advantage of emerging trends and

opportunities, with its first-class chemical infrastructure and growing tank capacity.

During a subsequent discussion with her counterpart from the Port of Rotterdam, Ronald Backers, Genoveva Climent Dewit, commercial director of Port Tarragona, explained the key ingredients in that recipe for success: the port has introduced some tax reductions to attract business but, in the overall chemical supply chain, those are insignificant. It is more important, she said, to have all the facilities available, good depth of water and rail access, guaranteeing no delays to vessels calling at the port and moving goods through quickly.

TERMINALS TALK Port authorities can do a lot to promote traffic but, ultimately, it is up to bulk liquids terminal operators to invest in the tank capacity and ancillary services that shippers and traders are looking for. A panel with representatives from three terminal operators in Tarragona – Tepsa, Vopak Terquimsa and EuroEnergo – discussed recent and future developments.

Tepsa, now owned by Rubis Terminal, has recently finalised its second phase expansion and was due to start work on a third phase in December, reported terminal manager Leandro Crespo Ariza, who is also corporate operations manager. By the end of the work, which is due to be completed by early 2023, Tepsa will have some 100,000 m3 of tank capacity in Tarragona. Tepsa has seen a 40 per cent increase in vessel calls since 2019, with a lot of new demand for chemical storage as traders and agents are redesigning their logistics chains. In particular, Crespo said, the cost of ocean freight is making shipments in tanks less attractive.

Other changes are being felt in the biofuels sector, with different raw materials emerging. Terminals have to be adaptable, Crespo said: it’s a new scenario and represents a significant change. “I recognise that,” added Josep Forcadell, commercial and business development director at Vopak Terquimsa. “We are in an era of change. It is clear that the entire industry is reshaping towards a more sustainable future.”

Forcadell’s point was that, as logistics providers, storage terminals need to be prepared to reinvent themselves, using existing infrastructure wherever possible to handle emerging and alternative fuels. Meanwhile, as the Covid pandemic has shown, the chemicals sector is very resilient. It is an essential industry, Forcadell said, and it has a promising future.

Perhaps less well positioned to meet this future is EuroEnergo, whose business development deputy director Anastasiya Mosgovoy explained that, in the past few years, the terminal had moved away from truck and rail loading towards the handling of larger vessels, helped by the port’s investment in berth capacity. But the market is changing and it is now looking more locally; shippers are moving smaller parcels, which calls for more collaboration. It also points to a need for smaller tanks, including specialised tanks for difficult products and for wastes, which will also require additional permitting. Hydrocarbons will not disappear overnight, Mosgovoy said, but it seems likely that EuroEnergo’s switch to larger volumes came at an inopportune time.

A PLACE FOR PORTS How can the port authority help terminals in practical terms to deal with the transition? According to Forcadell, infrastructure is essential but it is also crucial to make land available; Port Tarragona has done this through its harbour work and Terquimsa is now set to expand its capacity. The availability of ship services is also crucial: the better that ships can be handled, the more traffic will come. Hinterland transport is also very important but also, in a dynamic market, it is essential to have as much flexibility as possible.

Crespo agreed with Forcadell, noting also that agility in customs clearance can also help. Looking ahead, though, Crespo said that agents and traders are going to be asking for ‘green’ ports, offering shore power, new types of bunker fuel and so on. “We need to start talking about that,” he said. Forcadell also remarked that connecting the different players in the chain is becoming more important and that digitised networks for the sharing of information will be key. “We need to take a big leap if we are not going to become obsolete,” he said, and Crespo noted that the use of digitised systems is becoming commonplace in the ARA ports. “We need to adopt that to be competitive,” he added.

The logistics sector in Tarragona is clearly aware that things are changing and that they face a very different – and largely still uncertain – future. Port Tarragona is also aware and is doing what it can. But if it is to achieve its ambition to really develop a major chemical hub for the western Mediterranean, it has to find a way to offer the level of hinterland connectivity enjoyed by its cousins in the Hamburg-Le Havre range – and that means getting the Euro-gauge rail link. That should be on its way by the time this year’s Hub Med Day comes around; HCB will keep readers informed and report back. www.porttarragona.cat www.chemmedcluster.com