BASF postpones its Tarragona intermodal station to 2017 due to Madrid's delay building the Mediterranean Corridor

Tarragona (ACN). - German chemical multinational BASF does not expect to launch its intermodal merchant station in Tarragona's petro-chemical compound until early 2017, two years after it initially forecast. The date of commissioning, as recognised by the company, is conditioned by the start of construction of the third rail connecting the railway line in Tarragona to the Mediterranean Railway Corridor (a strategic transport priority for the European Union), an infrastructure the Spanish Government keeps delaying. Although there is currently no start date for construction, BASF has set up the company ‘Combiterminal Catalonia SL’: a 'joint venture' with Contank SA, Hoyer España SA, and Schmidt Holding GmbH and Tradillo Inversiones SL (Pañalón Group) collaborating to build and operate the station.

In a statement, BASF acknowledged that there is still no specific date for the start of construction of the terminal, which will involve an investment of 30 million euros, and be located in the centre of the company’s petrochemical plant in Tarragona. As emphasized, the terminal will be open to the trade of third parties, so it may benefit from lower logistical costs and increased competition.  

The development of the intermodal station is of immense strategic importance, as it will allow BASF and Tarragona’s nearby industrial areas to be connected with Europe’s main production centres and industrial plants through the Mediterranean Railway Corridor.  However this connection is currently dependent on the construction of a third rail in order to accommodate international train models, but the Spanish Government have delayed the completion of this line on several occasions. 

BASF stated: “With continued growth in export volume for the chemical commodities, goods, both incoming and outgoing, do not just have the Iberian Peninsula as their destination, they now have markets across Europe”.