TotalEnergies SE plans to permanently shut down the older of two ethylene-producing flexible steam crackers at the operator’s 338,000-b/d integrated refining and petrochemical platform in Antwerp, Belgium.
The decision to shutter the steam cracker—which is not integrated into the site’s downstream polymer production—follows nonrenewal of an offtake agreement for the unit’s ethylene production by a long-term, third-party customer by yearend 2027, leaving no outlets for the cracker’s ethylene output, TotalEnergies said on Apr. 22.
Given the cancelled offtake contract amid ongoing projections for a sustained oversupply of ethylene to the European market, TotalEnergies said it will cease operating Antwerp’s elder steam cracker by yearend 2027 to focus on operation of the site’s newest cracker, which currently produces ethylene feedstock for the company’s existing Belgian petrochemical plants both at Antwerp and Feluy.
The Feluy site consumes ethylene to produce high-performance polymers and includes production units for polypropylene, polyethylene, and expanded polystyrenes.
Contingent upon a legally required employee consultation and notification process TotalEnergies will begin in late April with representatives of the Antwerp platform’s employees, the proposed cracker shutdown and reconfiguration project would occur without any layoffs of the 253 potentially impacted employees, according to the operator.
Each of the affected employees will be “offered a solution aligned with their personal situation: retirement or an internal transfer to another position based at the Antwerp site,” TotalEnergies said.
The Antwerp platform’s two steam crackers—the older of which was upgraded in 2017 to flexibly process ethane, butane, or naphtha as feedstock—have combined capacity to produce 1.1 million tonnes/year (tpy) of ethylene (OGJ Online, July 7, 2017).
The planned unit closure also aligns with TotalEnergies’ long-term transformational strategy of gradually pivoting operations away from its traditional oil and gas history in alignment with its aim to achieve carbon neutrality across the entirety of its businesses by 2050 (OGJ Online, Feb. 18, 2025).
“By adapting and investing regularly in our Antwerp site, we’re securing its long-term future and ensuring that this integrated refining and petrochemicals platform remains TotalEnergies’ most efficient in Europe,” said Ann Veraverbeke, TotalEnergies Antwerp’s managing director.
“Whether the aim is to meet market challenges or contribute to decarbonization and the energy transition, the platform can be reconfigured so that it remains competitive and continues to provide jobs well into the future,” Veraverbeke added.
