Borouge starts up fifth polypropylene unit in Ruwais

Borouge, a joint venture between ADNOC and Borealis, announced  on Thursday the successful start of its new fifth polypropylene unit (PP5) in Abu Dhabi’s Ruwais.

The new unit will contribute to boosting 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, Borouge said in a statement.

Built within the Borouge 3 plant, PP5 is a key milestone in Borouge’s 2030 growth strategy and will deliver 480,000 tonnes per year, contributing to increasing Borouge’s polypropylene production capacity by more than 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.

The new facility 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 company said.

“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,” Hazeem Sultan Al Suwaidi, CEO of Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge), said in a statement.

“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,” he added.

The start-up of PP5 follows 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.