March/April 2016
Tank Containers
BULKDISTRIBUTOR
9
Bertschi tanks up in the Lion city
S
wiss chemical logistics firm Bertschi
officially recently opened its new facility
in Singapore – the group’s first in South-East
Asia.
Situated in the heart of South-East Asia’s largest
chemical hub, Bertschi’s S$45 million (€29.1
million) investment is strategically positioned to
offer its chemical logistics, processing services and
lean supply chain solutions to the specialty
chemical producers along the ‘ethylene oxide
corridor’ on Jurong Island.
“The shifting focus to specialty chemicals is not
just confined to Europe, as our latest investment
illustrates,” said Hans-Jörg Bertschi, president and
CEO of Bertschi Holding AG, at the opening of the
facility. “This is a revolutionary step for the
chemical industry.
“While better known for its refineries and
petrochemical complexes, Jurong Island has in
recent years welcomed more manufacturing
activities in specialty chemicals. Such manufacturing
requires specialised logistics capabilities, and the
addition of Bertschi is an example of how we
continually ensure Jurong Island remains
competitive. As such, companies here can continue
to find Singapore an ideal location to grow their
business,” commented Damian Chan, executive
director of energy and chemicals in the Singapore
Economic Development Board.
Occupying 30,000 sqm of land, the Bertschi
Jurong Island Chemical Cluster (JICC) is its most
advanced in Asia for the handling and storage of
specialty & hazardous chemicals. Key services
include dangerous goods (DG) bulk transport and
handling, DG chemicals storage, ISO tank
container storage & heating, blending &
drumming, and repackaging. These make the
Bertschi JICC a one-stop‐shop on Jurong Island,
integrating non- and DG ISO tank storage,
Bertschi’s global tank container operations, and a
wide range of value-added services. The group
says the location ensures that hazardous chemicals
are kept on Jurong and minimises traffic going on
and off the island.
“Instead of putting their specialty chemical
products into fixed liquid storage tanks at the plant
site, producing companies can now fill their final
products directly from the production reactor into
our ISO tanks. The products are then stored in tank
containers at our chemical cluster,” added Bertschi.
“By doing so, the producer reduces capex for his
newly built specialty chemicals plant typically by
10-15 percent, and land use by up to 50 percent.
Producers may streamline existing plants with very
little investment, as internal logistics is often the
bottleneck to production run optimisations. The
same principle applies for import/export flows
from overseas,” the CEO continued.
“Instead of going through bulk liquid storage
tanks, we import ISO tanks directly into our depot,
and store them there. ISO tanks are the new bulk
liquid storage for specialty chemicals and the raw
materials used in chemicals plants.”
According to Bertschi, one of the elements
supporting this transformation – besides the
globalisation of the chemical industry and the
focus on reducing capital expenditure – is the
paradigm shifts in sea freight. In the past eight
years, container vessels have increased their size
from 8,000 to 20,000 TEU per ship and introduced
slow steaming, leading to very significant cost
cutting. As a result, it has become more costefficient for specialty chemical products, as well as
their raw materials supply, to move in intermodal
tank containers rather than parcel tankers.
Chemical producers can focus on their core
business, while Bertschi provides the logistical
infrastructure and capacity to handle the non- and
hazardous chemicals. “New plants on Jurong
Island are able to maximise their processes with
optimum efficiency,” said Bertschi. “They will
require less capital expenditure as they can now
outsource their processes to us. This plus increased
customer profit margins through integrated
logistics, outsourcing and supporting logistics
project management, will enhance Jurong Island’s
investment location attractiveness. Thus, you could
consider the Bertschi JICC to be an additional link
in Jurong Island’s value chain.”
In keeping with the group’s commitment to
quality and safety, Bertschi’s operations are
certified in line with international safety, quality
and environmental standards. Built to surpass the
highest industry standards, operations at the JICC
are semi‐automated and incorporate safety
features like firewalls, chemical spillage retention
basins, and remote‐controlled foam jets.
At the opening ceremony, Bertschi also
announced that phase two expansion was already
underway: “To meet the growing needs of our
customers, Bertschi will invest in a second state-ofthe‐art dangerous goods warehouse which will be
completed in the second half of 2017. With an
additional investment of more than S$20 million
(€12.9 million), this will boost Bertschi’s total
investment to more S$65 million (€42 million).”
Guest of honour at the inauguration was Swiss
Ambassador to Singapore Thomas Kupfer. He
commented that as the latest Swiss global logistics
company to enter the ASEAN market, “Bertschi is
committed to ensuring Swiss quality and
consistent safety throughout its value chain. Its
strategic investment here in Singapore aims to
leverage on the country’s connectivity across the
region and first-class infrastructure.”
Bertschi already has a presence in Asia and