British petrochemicals group Ineos said it plans to start up its massive ethylene production complex currently under construction in Antwerp, Belgium, in the second half of 2027, following a months-long delay caused by the conflict in the Middle East. Completion of the entire site is expected by next summer, the company said in a statement issued on Tuesday, July 28. "We aim to be able to start up the cracker in the second half of 2027," Ineos added.

The British group said it has received a first module, weighing nearly 7,000 tonnes and standing 55 metres high, while a second is expected to arrive shortly. The structures are so large that they weigh “almost as much as the steel framework of the Eiffel Tower,” the company noted. Built in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, the modules remained stranded in the region for several months because of the conflict in the Middle East.

According to the company, the two vessels carrying the modules were able to transit the Strait of Hormuz during the mid-June ceasefire before reaching Belgium six weeks later via Egypt’s Suez Canal.

Once delivered and removed from their transport protection, the modules will allow Ineos to complete construction of its chemical complex, known as “Project One.” Valued at around EUR 4 billion, the project is described by the company as the largest investment in the European chemical industry in 25 years. The facility is designed to convert ethane—a hydrocarbon obtained from oil and gas production—into ethylene, a key feedstock used in the manufacture of materials such as polyethylene and PVC.

The site is expected to produce nearly 1.5 million tonnes of ethylene per year, according to Ineos. While the company says the facility will have a lower greenhouse gas footprint than comparable European plants, the project has faced strong opposition from environmental groups in both Belgium and the Netherlands, whose border lies only a few kilometres from the site.

In late November 2025, environmental NGO ClientEarth estimated that the plant’s emissions could be as much as five times higher than the figure cited by Ineos, arguing that the company had not included emissions associated with the product’s full lifecycle, from hydrocarbon extraction to the incineration of plastic waste at end of life.