Press Releases

Semi refrigerated LPG shipment comes online for the first time in BGC’s history

On the 20 June 2022, BGC exported the first semi-refrigerated LPG shipment from the BGC Umm Qasr jetty.

On this milestone Malcom Mays – BGC Managing Director commented: “This is a historical achievement in BGC’s and Iraq’s history. Today we export the first ever semi refrigerated LPG shipment from Umm Qasr port – this is truly a milestone to be proud of. BGC has been working relentlessly to meet its strategic plan, by upgrading Umm Qasr Marine Terminal and installing the necessary chiller units, we were able to bring this project into fruition. This is an important stepstone for BGC and Iraq, now LPG can be loaded on both pressurized and semi-refrigerated ships which will increase the number of vessels that our export customers can use to trade LPG produced by BGC.”

This provides us access to three times the number of vessels globally and double our loaded parcel size in one operation. Additionally, we can have access to wider markets and destination terminals that are restricted to accept refrigerated product only. Our strategic plan for the future is to maximize on semi refrigeration exports and eventually participate in the global LPG trading market when we start exporting fully refrigerated LPG”.

The operation of semi-refrigeration of LPG is cooling the product to the right temperature to load it on a lower pressure designed ship tanks. The mixed LPG is pumped through the chiller units at Umm Qasr Marine Terminal at an ambient temperature, whereby it cools the product to the required temperature, before being pumped into the ship. The semi-refrigerated ships can load larger volumes of LPG compared to pressurized ships.

It is worth mentioning that back in 2016 BGC turned Iraq from a net importer to a net exporter of LPG, creating a new revenue stream for the country. Today BGC provides more 80% of Iraq’s LPG demand, with the development of its export capabilities, BGC will potentially support Iraq to diversify its revenue streams and become a global player in the LPG market.