Borouge, a leading petrochemicals company based in Abu Dhabi, UAE, has awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the development of an additional polypropylene plant (PP5), which will be later integrated with the existing Borouge 3 complex in Ruwais region of Abu Dhabi.

The contract was won by Tecnimont SPA, a subsidiary of Italy-based Maire Tecnimont, a leading provider of EPC services to oil, gas, petrochemical, and chemical industries, said a statement from Borouge.

On completion, it will take the total polymer production capacity to almost 5 million tonnes per annum by 2021, it stated.

Borouge, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Borealis, Europe’s leading producer of polyolefin, was established 20 years ago and production has progressively increased as the Borouge 1, 2 and 3, plants have come on stream.

Borouge said the move comes as part of its growth strategy which aims to double the group's production capacity by 2030.

Abdulaziz AlHajri, the director of Adnoc’s downstream directorate, said: "At the heart of the downstream strategy is an Dh165 billion ($45 billion) investment, over the next five years, that will create the world’s largest integrated refining and petrochemicals hub in Ruwais, where Adnoc will convert 20 per cent of its crude to chemicals, tripling petrochemical production capacity to 14.4 million tonnes per year, by 2025."

"In parallel, Adnoc intends to build an international, integrated downstream presence, including securing additional crude refining capacity in growth markets," he noted.

Under Adnoc’s In-Country Value (ICV) programme, this project will maximise spend on local products, manufacturing, services and infrastructure, said the top official.

The ICV initiative also seeks to catalyse socio-economic development, improve knowledge transfer and create additional employment for UAE nationals, he added.

Based on Borealis Borstar technology, the new plant will have a nameplate capacity of 480,000 tonnes per annum and is expected to come on stream in the third quarter of 2021, noted AlHajri.

With this investment the total polypropylene production capacity of Borouge will grow to 2.24 million tonnes per annum, he added.

Borouge CEO Ahmed Omar Abdulla said: "Today’s announcement is a significant milestone in the expansion of Borouge’s growth ambition to become the recognized leader in creative plastics solutions that have a positive impact on society today and tomorrow."

"The awarding of the PP5 EPC contract, after a rigorous and robust competitive tendering process, is not only a signal of our intent to grow our position as a reliable provider to petrochemical products but also a signal of the further growth of Ruwais as the biggest world-class petrochemical complex," stated Abdulla.

Building this new capacity in the UAE will help Borouge to expand its product portfolio and deliver leading edge solutions to its customers across the globe, supporting our customers’ growth ambitions in the transportation and energy markets as well as rigid and flexible packaging sectors, infrastructure and agricultural film, he added.

The awarding of the EPC contract comes a year after Adnoc and Borealis announced plans for the construction of a Borouge 4 complex in Ruwais, which will encompass a world-scale, mixed feedstock cracker and downstream derivatives units for both polyolefin and non-polyolefin products.

Increasing petrochemical production capacity is a key pillar of Adnoc’s aggressive downstream expansion strategy, which will see it become a world class producer, supplier and trader of refined and petrochemical products as it focuses on markets in Asia, including China.-TradeArabia News Service