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Port of Antwerp to purchase former Opel site

11:23 15/04/2014

After months of negotiations, the Antwerp Port Authority has reached an agreement with General Motors (GM) to buy the site of the former Opel Antwerp factory (pictured). The Port Authority will take over the 96-hectare site for “a price in line with the sum proposed by a panel of experts in 2013,” according to a statement.

Last year, the two sides were blocked over the price, with the port offering €30 million and GM asking at least €90 million. A court called on the advice of a panel of independent experts, who came up with a compromise of €43.6 million. The exact price now reached has not been revealed, but analysts say it is likely to be close to that figure.

The Port Authority will also pay a sum into the Flemish government’s Hermes Fund for exceptional economic development. The money will, the port said in a statement, “flow back through economic investments in the port area”. GM will also contribute part of the sale price to the fund.

The site, the port authority said, is of “inestimable value”, offering “seldom seen possibilities to attract new industry”. The authority will now look for candidate occupants active in some form of manufacturing. “Each project proposal will be evaluated according to the added value it brings to the region,” the statement said.

In related news, Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters announced funding of €10 million for six chemical companies operating in the Waasland part of the port on the left bank, for the creation of a common heating network. Four of the companies – Ashland, Monument Chemical, De Neef Chemical Processing and LANXESS – will make use of heat produced by incinerators operated by the other two, Indaver and Sleco. The result will be a reduction in the consumption of primary fuels.

“This is an example of a well-considered green investment,” said Peeters. “The share of renewable energy it will deliver is equivalent to 50 windmills and will lead to an improvement of air quality and a reduction of 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.”

 

photo courtesy Port of Antwerp

Written by Alan Hope