Antwerp maintains leading position in Europe.

The port of Antwerp has been for many years the prime location choice for chemical companies investing in Europe. Antwerp's central location, well developed infrastructure and logistics, and availability of feedstock, as well as Belgium's tax regime, are continuing to pull in chemical investors. "Antwerp is definitely Europe's largest chemical cluster," says Xavier Vanrolleghem, commercial manager/Antwerp chemical cluster. Seven of the top 10 chemical producers--BASF, Bayer, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Ineos, ExxonMobil, and Total--have manufacturing activities at the port of Antwerp, Vanrolleghem says. Degussa is also a major investor there. "Not present at the port are Sabic, Shell, and Sinopec," he adds. Sabic has direct links with Antwerp, however, via a gas condensates pipeline from its petrochemical complex at Geleen, the Netherlands.

More investors are eyeing Antwerp for their future activities. A recent vote of confidence came from a joint venture among BASF, Dow Chemical, and Solvay to locate a "triple-digit million euro" project at Antwerp to produce propylene oxide using a novel hydrogen …