Grampet Group, active in railway transportation, through its newly established subsidiary Biturom, has opened the largest bitumen melting capacity in Romania, according to Economica.net. The new facility, designed to deliver liquid bitumen for road construction projects in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, was opened on the industrial platform Rafo Onesti.
The plant has a capacity of up to 18 tonnes of bitumen per hour and is fully automated. It will cover some 60% of the country’s road bitumen market.
Romania’s sole bitumen production facility is operated by Rompetrol Group at the Vega refinery in Ploiesti (central Romania) and covers some 20% of the country’s consumption.
Romania is importing some 80% of the bitumen used in road infrastructure projects. Facilities aimed at importing large amounts of liquid bitumen are being developed, particularly in Constanta Port.
Last year, Oil Terminal and Euronova Energies from Switzerland signed a partnership agreement regarding the construction of a (liquid) bitumen terminal in the port of Constanta. The new terminal, soon to be completed by JT Grup Oil in Constanta Port, will also be capable of operating bitumen imports.
“The Onești melting and storage terminal will include four 50/70 bitumen and polymerised bitumen production stations, with an annual capacity of up to 400,000 tons, thus covering approximately 60% of Romania’s annual bitumen needs. The first unit has started mass production, and the equipment for the other three stations has already been contracted from one of the world leaders in bitumen processing technologies,” Grampet’s press release reads.
The melting plant is equipped with a high-capacity heating system, consisting of three heat exchangers. Each has a power of 1,000,000 kcal/h and ensures a constant and efficient heat flow.
The station is also equipped with a polymerisation facility that allows the production of polymer-modified bitumen, offering the local and regional market a premium product, adapted to modern infrastructure requirements.
Grampet took over the bankrupt refinery Rafo Onesti in 2020, for a price of USD 6 million plus VAT. The refinery, the third-largest in Romania with a capacity of 3.5 million tonnes a year, went bankrupt in September 2019. It has not operated since 2008 and reportedly accumulated losses of USD 400 million since then.
Roserv Oil, part of Grampet Group, took over the refinery’s assets following an auction.
iulian@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Dumitrina Andrusca/Dreamstime.com)
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