Speaking to The Straits Times, chief executive of Norwegian shipping group Stolt-Nielsen, Mr Niels Stolt-Nielsen, said securing customers to sign on the dotted line was crucial to getting the project underway.
The firm announced its plans to build the tank terminal in July last year, with completion scheduled for late next year. However, the project had been put on hold earlier due to the financial crisis.
Mr Stolt-Nielsen said that while the company is ready to proceed once customers come on board, the uncertain economic climate however is holding them back.
‘The start date is very uncertain… It depends on being able to secure customers, and is driven by the demand for storage,’ said Mr Stolt-Nielsen, who expects a very slow global economic recovery.
A total of 10 customers – major players in the oil and petrochemical industry – have submitted letters of intent, but they were still ‘sitting on the sidelines waiting’ before signing a contract to commit to use the tank terminal.
But he added that he was confident that ‘several customers will make a decision by the end of the year’.
Two major potential customers, ExxonMobil and Shell, are expected to start operations in two large petrochemical plants in the next two years.
A 15 ha site for the storage facility has been reserved for Stolt-Nielsen by JTC Corp and the Economic Development Board (EDB).
If the project were to go ahead, the total investment could rise to $200 million and be used to store between 250,000 cubic metres and 300,000 cubic metres of chemicals used in manufacturing, Mr Stolt-Nielsen said.
He added that bank financing was not a problem for the project.
The company was ready to break ground on the project once customers commit, he said. The first phase would take about a year and a half to complete.