The German Talke Group announced a contract to manage and operate packaging and export logistics for polyethylene capacity that ExxonMobil Chemical company is adding at its Mont Belvieu Plastics plant near Houston. The contract with ExxonMobil Chemical for handling the new capacity of 1.3 million tonnes of polyethylene annually is valid for 10 years.
After the new ExxonMobil Chemical facilities begin operation in 2017, the specialist logistics company will handle product packaging and transportation to the Port of Houston for export to markets around the world. The services will include loading sea containers with ExxonMobil polyethylene packaged by Talke in 25-kilogram bags or in bulk.
Talke will transport the majority of the containers to the port, located about 30 kilometres away. Some of the polyethylene also will be delivered for transport by containers on rail. The logistics company will commission, operate and maintain the entire logistics system, including five state-of-the-art packaging lines.
The Talke logistics operation will include more than 200 employees dedicated to material handling, transport, and information technology. At the core of the system will be the “Talke Supply Chain Integration Suite” IT platform with specialised modules for warehouse and transport management developed together with SAP.
“This agreement with ExxonMobil shows once more that our strategy of integrating ourselves into the chemical and petrochemical supply chain with first-class, efficient logistics services, specialised consulting and powerful, compatible IT is the right one,” said Alfred Talke, Group Managing Director at Talke. “Furthermore, this also marks our entry into the US market and thus a further significant milestone for our company.”