May 3, 2012 [Argus Media] - Netherlands-based storage company Vopak is considering building oil product storage terminals at Bahia Las Minas in Panama, Bioko in Equatorial Guinea and Perth Amboy in the US state of New Jersey, along with a LPG terminal in Indonesia's west Java and an LNG terminal at Fos-sur-Mer on the French Mediterranean coast.
The company plans capacity expansion and new projects totalling 5.6mn m³ (35.2mn bl), from now until the end of 2014. These include more than 1.35mn m³ of oil product expansions in the UAE and the Netherlands, new capacity of 1.35mn m³ in China, 1.28mn m³ in Malaysia and more than 1.6mn m³ in Europe.
Vopak’s storage capacity increased 12pc to 28.3mn m³ between the first quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of this year, with the occupancy rate edging up to 93pc from 92pc.
There is strong demand for storage because of increasing inter-regional product trade, the company said in a first-quarter trading statement, while UK demand has been boosted by refinery shutdowns. Chemicals storage demand is supported by buoyancy in the US industry and growth in Asia. Biofuels product flow remains unpredictable, Vopak said, but storage and handling markets are improving.
It is possible it will reach the lower end of its 2013 target range of €725mn-800mn ($958mn-$1.06bn) for profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in 2012, the company said.
