Leningradskaya oblast longs for methanol
The interdepartmental commission (IDC) on allocation of productive forces on territory of Leningradskaya oblast gave sanction to the little-known company Baltic initiative Vyborg LLC on construction of the sea terminal on transhipment of methanol. The implementation of this project is planned for the port of Vysotsk nearby the coal transhipment complex DEW-HOLDING and oil product terminal belonging to LUKOIL.
Half a million tons for a quarter of a billion
The project of Baltic Initiative Vyborg LLC of construction of the petrochemical distributive-reloading sea terminal in Vysotsk specializing on transhipment of methanol with the capacity of 450 thousand tons a year will cost the investor $25 million. Such sum is declared in official documents of IDC. A company management plans the beginning of the implementation of the project for 2007. The object will be placed on the area of 16 hectares. Duration of a construction is 2-2.5 years. The project provides construction of the one deep-water berth (11.5 m) and storage park with the volume of 25 thousand cubic meters. Besides, the investor intends to construct rail trestle, which will allow accepting freight wagons with methanol from the station Vysotsk located near. Thus the source from a company management of Baltic Initiative Vyborg declared to the PortNews IAA, that the RZHD gave a permit on construction of the approaching railway site to the station Vysotsk on funds of investor. The same source informed, that deliveries of methanol to the terminal are planned to carry out from chemical plants of Tomsk, Perm, and from the Novgorod factory Akron.
Deficit transhipment of methanol
Today only one terminal in Russia specializes on transhipment of methanol. According to the SeaNews, Eastern petrochemical terminal at a ship-repair factory Slavyanka (to the south of the port Vladivostok) started an export transhipment of methanol in summer of 2005. According to the management of the terminal, export of methanol is profitable to be carried out not only from manufacturers located close such as ANHK (Angarsk) and Tomsk OJSC methanol, but also from such enterprises as Metafrax OJSC (Gubakha, the Perm region), ScchekinoAzot, ToliattiAzot.
There are no methanol sea terminals in the West of Russia; therefore all export cargo traffic goes into the ports of Baltic and Finland. According to the one of the top-managers of Baltic Initiative Vyborg LLC, the two Finnish ports accept 900 thousand tons of Russian methanol annually. In such a situation the construction of the own terminal for petrochemical cargoes on territory of Russia could be proved from the economic point of view. Therefore, director on manufacture of Lenmorniiproekt OJSC, Sergey Semenov notes that the location of the future terminal is apt: "Earlier (more than 5 years ago) design studies on construction of the terminal for transhipment of chemical cargoes including methanol were carried out at this zone. Afterwards on the basis of this project LUKOIL Oil Company updated it and established a complex on transhipment of oil products"
Poison
However experts of the port branch find many "drawbacks" in the project given to IDC. Alexey Bezborodov, director of SeaNews projects considers the construction of the terminal on transhipment of methanol to be that dangerous that he even doesn’t consider this location to be possible on territory of Russia. "Closed and unknown company starts to build poisonous manufacture. I do not know their opportunities, their experience of construction of similar objects, I do not trust in safety of such a project", - Alexey Bezborodov told to the correspondent of the Portnews IAA.
Sergey Semenov finds other obstacle in the way of implementation of the new port project in Leningradskaya oblast: the new project is not reflected in the General scheme of development of the transport-technological port complexes in the Gulf of Finland, which was developed in 2005 and currently is on the consideration in the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation. Thus the similar chemical terminal being requested for a construction in the port of Ust-Luga is reflected in the given document. Probably, the process of coordination of the new terminal in the Ministry of Transport could hamper a construction.
Half a million tons for a quarter of a billion
The project of Baltic Initiative Vyborg LLC of construction of the petrochemical distributive-reloading sea terminal in Vysotsk specializing on transhipment of methanol with the capacity of 450 thousand tons a year will cost the investor $25 million. Such sum is declared in official documents of IDC. A company management plans the beginning of the implementation of the project for 2007. The object will be placed on the area of 16 hectares. Duration of a construction is 2-2.5 years. The project provides construction of the one deep-water berth (11.5 m) and storage park with the volume of 25 thousand cubic meters. Besides, the investor intends to construct rail trestle, which will allow accepting freight wagons with methanol from the station Vysotsk located near. Thus the source from a company management of Baltic Initiative Vyborg declared to the PortNews IAA, that the RZHD gave a permit on construction of the approaching railway site to the station Vysotsk on funds of investor. The same source informed, that deliveries of methanol to the terminal are planned to carry out from chemical plants of Tomsk, Perm, and from the Novgorod factory Akron.
Deficit transhipment of methanol
Today only one terminal in Russia specializes on transhipment of methanol. According to the SeaNews, Eastern petrochemical terminal at a ship-repair factory Slavyanka (to the south of the port Vladivostok) started an export transhipment of methanol in summer of 2005. According to the management of the terminal, export of methanol is profitable to be carried out not only from manufacturers located close such as ANHK (Angarsk) and Tomsk OJSC methanol, but also from such enterprises as Metafrax OJSC (Gubakha, the Perm region), ScchekinoAzot, ToliattiAzot.
There are no methanol sea terminals in the West of Russia; therefore all export cargo traffic goes into the ports of Baltic and Finland. According to the one of the top-managers of Baltic Initiative Vyborg LLC, the two Finnish ports accept 900 thousand tons of Russian methanol annually. In such a situation the construction of the own terminal for petrochemical cargoes on territory of Russia could be proved from the economic point of view. Therefore, director on manufacture of Lenmorniiproekt OJSC, Sergey Semenov notes that the location of the future terminal is apt: "Earlier (more than 5 years ago) design studies on construction of the terminal for transhipment of chemical cargoes including methanol were carried out at this zone. Afterwards on the basis of this project LUKOIL Oil Company updated it and established a complex on transhipment of oil products"
Poison
However experts of the port branch find many "drawbacks" in the project given to IDC. Alexey Bezborodov, director of SeaNews projects considers the construction of the terminal on transhipment of methanol to be that dangerous that he even doesn’t consider this location to be possible on territory of Russia. "Closed and unknown company starts to build poisonous manufacture. I do not know their opportunities, their experience of construction of similar objects, I do not trust in safety of such a project", - Alexey Bezborodov told to the correspondent of the Portnews IAA.
Sergey Semenov finds other obstacle in the way of implementation of the new port project in Leningradskaya oblast: the new project is not reflected in the General scheme of development of the transport-technological port complexes in the Gulf of Finland, which was developed in 2005 and currently is on the consideration in the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation. Thus the similar chemical terminal being requested for a construction in the port of Ust-Luga is reflected in the given document. Probably, the process of coordination of the new terminal in the Ministry of Transport could hamper a construction.