Most important petrochemical pole of the Mediterranean nourished by training and innovation

Tarragona (ACN).- Tarragona produces 25% of the petrochemical materials and 44% of the plastics within the Spanish state. With almost 30 businesses, 6,000 direct employees, 4,500 indirect employees and 30,000 armatures, it is the largest chemical cluster of the Mediterranean. But the businesses do not hold all the merits. They need nourishment and knowledge from universities like the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) and research centres like the Catalan Institute of Chemical Research (ICIQ). These 3 bodies drive the chemical and sustainable energy pole that, in the long term, will also have alternatives to petroleum. The Spanish oil and gas company Repsol, with over 600 hectares of land, is a referent for the petrochemical industry in Tarragona.

Forming in the mid-70s, the most important sectors of the company as refinery and chemicals. Repsol employs 3,000 people, half of the total number of personal in the entire Tarragona chemical complex. The director of the Repsol Petroleum and Chemical Plant in Tarragona, Joan Pedrerol, considers some of the advantages of this cluster to be its good connection with the port and the transportation of materials through underground pipes known as ‘racks’. 45% of movement in the port comes through Repsol and 60% through the whole chemical industry.

A 1,000 million euro investment in Tarragona

While an enviable logistical chain, that is not enough. Businesses like Repsol have to compete with places like Asia. Apart from the 60 million euros annually invested to improve installations, the grand investment for Repsol in Tarragona is a 1,000 million euro sum for the development of a ‘coker’ for 2016. A ‘coker’ is a fabrication plant for products of high value such as gasoil and carbon from coke. As far as chemicals, work on the resistance and durability of plastics (such as polyethylene and polypropylene) to coat electrical cables and vehicle fenders is being done.

The AEQT: a union of strength

Despite having closed 2 chemical factories- one producing acrylonitrile and another methyl methacrylate- predictions from Repsol for 2010 see better results from last year’s production of 6.5 million tons of crude oil and 1.3 million tons from the chemical division. Repsol as well as the other chemical companies of the complex are protected under the umbrella association Chemical Business Association of Tarragona (AEQT), another reason for the cluster’s attractiveness. AEQT confirms that production has grown 8% since 2009 after 6 occupation regulation reports and the loss of 450 jobs.

In search of investors

The crisis as well as competition has blocked the cluster from expanding and bringing in new industries. AEQT’s director, Ramon Fontboté, considers the cluster to be very well positioned- it represents 50% of Catalan chemical production- but noted that they cannot let down their guard. “It is necessary to renovate the terrain to bring in investments,” affirmed Fontboté. There are currently 500 available hectares near Vila-seca in southern Tarragona. “We are situated far from central European consumer markets, so we are counting on the rapid development of the Magrib area”, he stated.

Agreement for the development of chemistry

It is for this reason that strong efforts are being made to open doors and attract investors while optimizing energy on a local scale. Recently the URV, industries, administrations and unions signed an agreement for the development of chemistry with the hope of bringing everyone in the same direction. Both Fontboté and Pedrerol agree that road and train infrastructures need improvement. On the other hand, the chemical pole has important knowledge and innovation centres such as the URV and ICIQ that host qualified professionals.

The ICIQ and chemical sustainability

The ICIQ is fully aware that petroleum is neither abundant nor cheap. The centre for foundational structures was created in 2004 and is considered one of the most important international research centres. The centre’s director, Miquel Pericàs, has spent the last 15 years in the petroleum businesses and says that it already in its decline. For this reason the ICIQ is centring its investigations in catalysis, a method of searching for new energy sources existent in the environment such as hydrogen and photovoltaic molecular energy.

More knowledge centres

The ICIQ awaits the arrival of some 200 scientists from over 30 different nationalities, a figure that could rise to 300 in the next three years with the construction of their new research centre. The new Chemical Technological Centre of Catalonia (CTQC) will focus on sustainable chemistry. The two centres will soon host a division from the Energy Research Institute of Catalonia (IREC). They are all located within the Scientific and Technological Park of Tarragona, which has over 9,000 square metres and is being developed in different phases until 2013.

A suitable location

“If a cluster does not include science and knowledge, it will die within time”, says Pedrerol. Repsol along with the U.S. company Dow Chemical and the German Basf are some of the stronger businesses located within the Tarragona cluster. This, in addition to purely competitive factors such as the integration with the Tarragona port, the logistical costs of commodity and the strive for a different kind of product make the area of Tarragona a suitable location for chemical companies wanting to establish themselves within the Mediterranean market.