By: Amr Adel
Dubai – Mubasher Exclusive: Borouge is currently seeking to focusing on increasing the size of its plastic products exports to Turkish and North African markets, Borouge Senior Vice President Middle East Africa )MEAE) Hazeem Sultan Al Suwaidi said.
Borouge, a leading provider of innovative, value-creating plastics solutions, is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Austria-based Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions.
Speaking to Mubasher exclusively in a press conference on the side lines of the Arabplast 2015 exhibition in Dubai on Wednesday, Al Suwaidi highlighted that Borouge is currently examining means of adding an Austrian partner in order to increase exports to these markets which are witnessing massive growth rates.
The Company has no intention of entering new markets, it only needs to focus on its current export markets and meet their growing needs, Al Suwaidi stated.
Based in the UAE, with its Marketing and Sales head office in Singapore, Borouge serves customers in 50 countries across the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Its exports range between 600,000 and 700,000 tons of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) in the region and North Africa, with the remainder of its products going to China and Asia.
In his exclusive to Mubasher, Al Suwaidi stated that there is a growing demand on plastics in the UAE on the long term, owing to economic growth. There are many growth opportunities for companies both locally and globally, he added.
The UAE makes up 25% of the Gulf’s plastic products industry has its more than 600 plastics plans across the seven emirates. Borouge is the largest innovative, high-value plastics solutions provider in the UAE.
The Company is currently working on boosting and expanding its sales network and logistics stations in the Middle East and Asia regions. Moreover, it is currently celebrating the establishment of its new state-of-the-art Innovation Centre in Abu Dhabi, which collaborating with the European innovation centres of Borealis to develop the competency of polymer science in the UAE. Moreover, its Application Centre in Shanghai is being expanded and relocated to Pudong in late 2014.
Al Suwaidi also said that the Company is working on launching new PE and PP plastics solutions through infrastructure applications such as pipe systems, energy and communications cables, car parts, and developed packaging, which contribute to facing the world’s challenges such as climate change.
Borouge seeks to diversify its product portfolio in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to include a wide range of solutions in the airline, transport and packaging sectors. By 2017, the number of Borouge’s products will have reached 27 products, double the current number.
In response to a question on the effect of oil price on the plastics manufacture industry, Al Suwaidi said that oil prices do not have a direct effect, as the demand on plastics is the factor that sets the prices announced on a monthly basis.
The firm also seeks to reach the maximum operational capacity at its Borouge 3 plant in 2015, the Company official highlighted, adding that total project investments have reached $3.4 billion, with the aim of doubling production capacity to 4.5 million tons of preliminary products that enter into the manufacture of cables and plastic insulators.
It is worth noting that Borouge’s capacity increase is supported by enhancements to its world-class supply chain. The first shipment of Borouge 3 material was exported through the container terminal at Khalifa Port in October 2014.
Since 2010 to present, Borouge has invested more than $10 billion towards the growth of the Company, achieving an unmatched 700% increase in the annual production capacity of its petrochemical plants in Abu Dhabi from 2 to 4.5 million tonnes. In addition to increasing the capacity of PP and PE production, the “Borouge 3” plant will also introduce low density polyethylene (LDPE) into the Company’s production portfolio, enabling Borouge to provide advanced plastics solutions for the global wire and cable markets.
“Arabplast is an ideal platform for Borouge and leading plastics producers and convertors in the MENA region to network and explore mutual opportunities leveraging the growing polymer competence in the region and partnering to develop world-class end-use applications,” the Company’s Senior VP said.
Arabplast 2015 is the Middle East and North Africa’s largest plastics trade fair slated for January 10-13 at Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre (DICEC).
Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi
