Borouge completes USD 40 million investment exercise to increase Polyethylene production capacity at Abu Dhabi facility to 580 kts per annum

Abu Dhabi & Singapore - Borouge announced today that its USD 40 million investment to expand the Polyethylene capacity of its USD 1.2 billion petrochemical complex in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 450 kilo tonnes (kts) to 580 kts per annum has been successfully completed in early March 2005.

The debottlenecking of existing capacity was successfully implemented during a planned Ethylene unit turnaround at the site to minimize disruption to customers. With this expansion, Borouge ethylene production will be fully converted into Polyethylene.

Located in Ruwais, the Borouge petrochemical complex was officially opened in October 2002 to produce Enhanced Polyethylene (PE) products to meet the demanding needs of the packaging and pipe industries in the Middle East and Asia Pacific.

By using the innovative Borstar® bimodal process, Borouge delivers Enhanced PE products which are intrinsically high-performance and high-value, combining excellent mechanical strength and product processability. Their superior performance enables significant down-gauging and product “lightweighting” for packaging film, consumer bottles, pipe applications and wire & cable, resulting in material cost savings of up to 30%.

“We aim to be the preferred supplier of polyolefins in the Middle East and the Asia Pacific,” said Harri Bucht, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Polymers Co Ltd (Borouge). “We hope to increase our production capacity further significantly over the next few years and to build on what is already a world-class petrochemical complex – which has consistently exceeded its nameplate capacity – to improve both operational efficiency and increased cost-effectiveness for our customers. The recent turnaround and debottlenecking activities will enable us to ensure continued efficient operations and phased increase in capacity to meet our customers’ needs.”

“Demand has outstripped supply for our Enhanced PE products over the last two years. We have sold-out while running at full capacity,” said Hubert Puchner, Chief Executive of Borouge Pte Ltd. “These enhanced grades have proved to be very popular with customers looking for cost-effective, high-performance polyolefins for both traditional and new applications. The new capacity will be used to satisfy growing demand from customers from East Africa, the Middle East, the India sub-continent, Northeast and Southeast Asia and the Pacific region.”

Borouge consists of two entities: A production company Abu Dhabi Polymers Co Ltd (Borouge) based in Abu Dhabi with production in Ruwais, UAE, and a marketing company, Borouge Pte Ltd based in Singapore.

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