HES International: Europe’s Bulk Terminal Operator 2026

HES International is one of Europe’s largest independent bulk handling companies, operating 14 terminals across four countries with over a century of continuous operation dating to 1908. Headquartered in Rotterdam, HES International handles liquid bulk, dry bulk and break bulk products at strategic port locations across the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and France — and in 2026 is repositioning its Wilhelmshaven terminal as a large-scale hub for hydrogen imports and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Company Overview

HES International B.V. was founded in Rotterdam in 1908 and has evolved through multiple ownership structures to become one of Europe’s most significant independent port infrastructure operators. The company is jointly owned on a 50/50 basis by Macquarie Asset Management (via Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5) and Goldman Sachs Asset Management Infrastructure (via West Street Infrastructure Partners III). With approximately 1,450 employees and disclosed financing of over $1.23 billion, HES International operates at institutional infrastructure scale across its European terminal network.

The group’s terminal portfolio spans liquid bulk, dry bulk and break bulk operations, providing transhipment, storage, blending, processing and logistics services to customers across the energy, chemicals, agricultural and steel sectors. HES International holds a deliberately independent position in the supply chain — uncommitted to any single commodity trader or producer — which allows it to serve a broad customer base across commodity cycles. Group CEO Paul van Gelder has described 2025 as a transformative year for the business, with a clear strategic pivot toward new energy carriers, decarbonisation infrastructure and what the company terms its New Energies platform.

Terminal Network and Key Assets

HES International’s liquid bulk operations are anchored in the Rotterdam port complex, where the group operates HES Botlek Tank Terminal (HBTT) — its primary liquid bulk site in the Botlek industrial zone — alongside a dedicated bitumen terminal at the same location. Rotterdam is also home to HES Bulk Terminal Rotterdam (HBTR), the group’s largest dry bulk terminal, which handles up to six million tonnes of iron ore per year via a fully modernised train loading station completed in 2025. The port cluster at Rotterdam gives HES deep-water berth access, direct rail connectivity into the European hinterland, and proximity to the continent’s largest refining and petrochemical corridor — a competitive position explored in detail in OGSN’s analysis of Rotterdam’s role in the future of tank storage.

In Germany, HES Wilhelmshaven Tank Terminal (HWTT) is the company’s largest liquid bulk asset outside the Netherlands, with 1.3 million cbm of capacity at Germany’s only deep-draft port. The terminal handles HFO, diesel, gasoil, crude oil, kerosene, jet fuel, gasoline, ethanol and biofuels, and holds ISO 9001 and 14001 certifications alongside EMAS III environmental management accreditation. In Poland, HES Gdynia Bulk Terminal — which opened a fully automated flat grain warehouse in 2025 — handles agricultural products and biomass at the Port of Gdynia on the Baltic Sea. A newly acquired terminal at Fos-sur-Mer in France, operating as HES Med Terminals, adds Mediterranean access and a strategic position in the developing green steel supply chain.

The Amsterdam terminal, HES Bulk Terminal Amsterdam, handles a range of dry bulk products and serves as a customer-facing hub: HES hosted clients there during SAIL Amsterdam 2025, one of the world’s largest maritime events. Additional joint venture terminals include OVET and STE, and a Maasdelta bulk terminal at Europoort completes the Rotterdam cluster. Among Europe’s independent terminal operators, HES International’s multi-modal, multi-product platform across four countries places it alongside Vopak and Stolthaven as a defining presence in the Northwest European bulk storage market.

2026 Projects and New Energies Strategy

HES International’s most significant strategic development in 2026 is the repositioning of Wilhelmshaven as a New Energies Hub. In December 2025, HES Wilhelmshaven Tank Terminal and German gas network operator Open Grid Europe (OGE) signed an agreement giving HES an option to connect to the Wilhelmshaven Coastal Line (WKL) — a key artery of Germany’s national hydrogen backbone. Pipeline construction is scheduled to begin in 2026, with commissioning targeted for end of 2027. The connection would enable large-scale hydrogen and hydrogen derivative imports into Germany via Wilhelmshaven’s deep-draft berths.

In parallel, HES and Harbour Energy formalised a new Cooperation Agreement in December 2025 to advance the CO₂nnectNow CCS project at Wilhelmshaven. Under the agreement, HES leads development of the terminal as a collection and export point for captured CO₂ from German industry, while Harbour Energy — which holds licensed net CO₂ storage capacity of over 650 million tonnes across Denmark, Norway and the UK — develops the subsurface storage destinations. Wilhelmshaven’s deep-water port, existing rail logistics and ample vacant land make it one of the most credible CCS export hub locations in Northwest Europe.

On the liquid bulk side, HES Botlek Tank Terminal reached a milestone in January 2026: 65% of its storage capacity is now dedicated to biofuels following a new long-term customer agreement — surpassing the company’s own strategic target of 60% biofuels by 2028 more than two years ahead of schedule. Across the network, a group-wide LED lighting upgrade programme targeting energy savings of approximately 700,000 kWh per year at HBTR alone is on track for completion in 2026, with the Botlek liquid terminal’s own upgrade more than 85% complete. These sustainability initiatives reflect the broader shift in how European terminal operators are managing operating costs and regulatory compliance simultaneously.

HES International in the European Market

HES International competes in the European independent terminal sector alongside Vopak, Oiltanking, and LBC Tank Terminals — all of whom operate significant liquid bulk assets in Rotterdam and the ARA range. HES’s differentiation lies in its combined liquid and dry bulk platform, its institutional ownership structure providing long-term capital for infrastructure development, and its early-mover positioning in new energy infrastructure at Wilhelmshaven. The French acquisition at Fos-sur-Mer adds a Mediterranean dimension that few Northwest European terminal operators can match, and the GravitHy MOU — linking HES Med Terminals to a future green steel production site — signals intent to become embedded in the decarbonised industrial supply chains that European policy is now actively incentivising.

Company Snapshot