Restart of INEOS Phenol plant in Antwerp postponed
Market recovery still insufficient to resume production
Today, management informed the staff of INEOS Phenol in Doel that the planned restart of the Phenol Doel plant next year will be delayed.
A possible late 2027 restart had previously been announced in June of last year. However due to continued volatile market conditions in the European and global markets, on both supply and demand, the economic conditions required for a restart have not yet been sustainably reached and therefore a delay is necessary.
An example of the volatile market conditions is the European automotive industry, a major consumer of INEOS Phenol’s products, where demand for European produced cars has been under severe pressure due to significantly increased imports of Chinese cars. This directly impacts phenol and acetone demand in Europe. In addition to pressure on the demand for European petrochemical production high energy costs and carbon taxation in Europe, costs that our competitors do not have, have also made European petrochemical production economics extremely challenging.
As a result of today’s announcement, INEOS Phenol’s other operating site in Gladbeck (Germany) will continue production beyond 2027. The announcement was made now because resuming production at Antwerp next year would require preparation to begin immediately.
In the meantime, the site in Antwerp continues to provide logistics services to supply its local customers. Importantly all necessary investments are being made to maintain the INEOS Phenol Doel plant and preserve the option to restart when market conditions have sustainably recovered to support this and all options remain open.
About INEOS Phenol
INEOS Phenol in Doel is part of the INEOS Group since 2001 and is the world's largest phenol production plant. The site employs about 150 people with an annual production capacity of 680 000 tonnes. In Europe INEOS Phenol produces phenol, acetone and alpha-methylstyrene (AMS), basic chemicals used for a variety of industrial applications.
Phenol, via the intermediate bisphenol A (BPA), is mainly processed to produce polycarbonate, epoxy resins, phenol formaldehyde resins (PF resin) and nylon. The automotive and construction industries are the main end users for headlights, bumpers, the housing of mirrors and airbags, safety glass, wall plates and insulation materials, among others. The main application of acetone is plexiglass and solvent, which is used for drugs and adhesives, among others. AMS is used to produce heat-resistant ABS with application in the automotive industry. Other applications can be found in textiles (bicycle and ski clothing), inks and paints, electronics (screens of smartphones and laptops) and the blades of wind turbines.
More information: https://www.ineos.com/businesses/ineos-phenol/markets/