Borouge starts up fifth polypropylene unit in Ruwais

Borouge, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC and Austria’s Borealis, has announced the start up of its new fifth polypropylene unit (PP5) in Ruwais.

The new unit will boost the UAE’s polypropylene production to meet the growing demand for manufactured products in the recyclable advanced packaging, infrastructure, and other industrial sectors. Built within the Borouge 3 plant, the new unit will deliver 480,000 tonnes per year (t/y) and increase Borouge’s polypropylene production capacity by more than 25 per cent to 2.24 million t/y, and its total polymer capacity of polyolefins by 11 per cent from 4.5 to 5 million t/y. The new facility will have the annual capacity to manufacture raw materials to produce enough pipes for the water supply networks for the equivalent of 6,500 Burj Khalifa buildings.

#Borouge’s fifth polypropylene unit in Ruwais contributes to increasing its PP capacity by more than 25% to meet its customers’ increasing demand for PP solutions, especially in the advanced packaging & infrastructure sectors across the Middle East, Asia Pacific & Africa markets. pic.twitter.com/XuvNjctOD4

— Borouge (@Borouge) February 24, 2022

Borouge’s PP5 project has successfully achieved an In-Country Value score of more than 60 per cent, indicating the level of sourcing from UAE companies and ‘Made in UAE’ content. All steel structures, piping and fittings were procured in the country. A total of 30 per cent of all installed equipment was ‘Made in UAE’ and all subcontract services were sourced from the local market, official news agency WAM reported.

Construction of the PP5 unit started in December 2018 and was completed during the Covid-19 pandemic with more than 100 Borouge employees and four thousand contractors having worked on the project. Commissioning of the unit started at the end of 2021.

Thanks to the efforts of 100 #Borouge employees and 4,000 contractors, Borouge’s new fifth polypropylene unit will enable us to meet our customers’ increasing demand for #polypropylene solutions in the advanced packaging and infrastructure sectors. @AdnocGroup @BorealisGroup

— Borouge (@Borouge) February 24, 2022

Hazeem Sultan Al Suwaidi, CEO of Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge), said, “This marks further progress on Borouge’s growth journey and the development of Ruwais into a dynamic, global hub for downstream activity, enabling the UAE’s long-term industrial growth and economic diversification. Our PP5 unit will enable us to meet our customers’ increasing demand for polypropylene solutions, especially in the packaging and infrastructure sectors across our key markets in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa.”

“We work closely with our customers and value chain partners to achieve their circular economy commitments through several initiatives. These include the development of mono-material packaging solutions that are designed for recyclability. We will be able to provide solutions that drive total cost benefits for customers by leveraging Borstar technology to deliver unparalleled cycle time improvements, reduced warpage, and energy efficiency,” added Rainer Hoefling, CEO Borouge Pte.

ADNOC and its Austrian chemicals partner are lining up banks to help arrange a potential listing of Borouge within months, it was announced earlier this month.

Read: ADNOC, Borealis hiring banks for IPO of plastics joint venture