23 August 2007
Dubai: Abu Dhabi-based petrochemicals maker Borouge will build its first overseas plant in China to take advantage of high demand for plastics in the automobile industry in Asia's fastest growing economy.
Borouge's Shanghai facility will have a capacity of 50,000 tonnes, with scope for further expansion. The polypropylene plant is expected to start production in early 2010.
Borouge did not say how much it is investing in the facility. The company estimates local demand in China for polypropylene to grow at 7.7 per cent per year over the next five years.
The plant will mainly produce materials used for making dashboards, door panels and bumpers, as well as mineral-filled polypropylene and glass-fibre reinforced polypropylene for under the bonnet applications.
"By locating this new facility in China, Borouge expects to take further advantage of the country's status as the world's fastest growing automotive market and its drive to become the biggest car producer in the world within the next 10 years," the company said in a statement.
Borouge, owned 60 per cent by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and 40 per cent by Vienna-based petrochemical company Borealis, maintains a marketing office in Shanghai.
It currently produces polyethylene at its facility in Abu Dhabi's Ruwais area and hopes to triple its production volume in 2010 when the Borouge 2 expansion project is completed.
By Shakir Husain
Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.
