Borouge, a joint venture between UAE state-owned oil company, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Austrian chemical giant, Borealis, has successfully commissioned its new fifth polypropylene unit (PP5) in Ruwais.
According to the company, the new unit will contribute to enhancing the UAE’s production of polypropylene to meet the growing global demand for manufactured products in the recyclable advanced packaging, infrastructure and other industrial sectors.
Built within the Borouge 3 plant, PP5 is a key milestone in Borouge’s 2030 growth strategy. The new unit will deliver 480,000 tonnes per year (t/y) and contribute to increasing Borouge’s polypropylene production capacity by over 25 percent to 2.24 million t/y, and its total polymer capacity of polyolefins by 11 percent from 4.5 to 5 million t/y.
Hazeem Sultan Al Suwaidi CEO – Borouge
“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.”
The new unit 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. The start-up of PP5 follows soon after the announcement of the Final Investment Decision for the world-scale Borouge 4 expansion which makes Borouge’s Abu Dhabi manufacturing facilities the world’s largest single-site polyolefin complex.
Mr. Rainer Hoefling, CEO of Borouge, commented, “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.”
Demand for products manufactured from polypropylene is set to rise in the coming decades as it is a versatile and readily recyclable material. The new PP5 unit will strengthen Borouge’s offering of sustainable, innovative and differentiated products to meet emerging demand. Polypropylene will be used by customers and value chain partners to manufacture recyclable packaging and to create pipes that are strong, durable and lightweight, for the infrastructure sector.
PP5 supports the UAE In-Country Value and ‘Make It In the Emirates’ programs. The unit has successfully achieved an In-Country Value score of more than 60 percent, 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 percent of all installed equipment, was ‘Made in UAE’ and all subcontract services were sourced from the local market.
