Borouge awards EPC contract to build fifth polypropylene plant in Ruwais

ABU DHABI - Borouge has awarded the Engineering, Procurement and Construction, EPC, contract for an additional Polypropylene Plant, PP5, to be integrated with the existing Borouge 3 complex in Ruwais and grow the polymer production capacity to almost 5 million tonnes per annum by 2021.

The EPC contract has been awarded to Tecnimont SPA, a subsidiary of Italy’s Milan-based Maire Tecnimont, that provides engineering, procurement, and construction services to oil, gas, petrochemical, and chemical industries.

Borouge, a joint venture of ADNOC and Borealis was established 20 years ago and production has progressively increased as the Borouge 1, 2 and 3, plants have come on stream. Borouge 2030 Growth Strategy aims to double the production capacity by 2030.

Commenting on the announcement, Abdulaziz AlHajri, Director of ADNOC’s Downstream directorate, said, "At the heart of the downstream strategy is an AED165 billion (US$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% 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." Under ADNOC’s In-Country Value, ICV, programme, this project will maximise spend on local products, manufacturing, services and infrastructure. The ICV initiative also seeks to catalyse socio-economic development, improve knowledge transfer and create additional employment for UAE nationals.

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 Q3 2021. With this investment the total polypropylene production capacity of Borouge will grow to 2.24 million tonnes per annum.

In turn, Ahmed Omar Abdulla, CEO of Abu Dhabi Polymers Company, Borouge, 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." 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.

The awarding of the EPC contract comes one year after Borouge shareholders 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.