Abu Dhabi-based Borouge, a leading provider of innovative plastics solutions, plans to invest up to $4.5 billion in its ambitious plant expansion project, which once operational will help boost its production capacity by 700 per cent in the next four years, said a senior official.

Once the project gets completed by mid-2014, Borouge will have the world’s largest integrated single-site polyolefins plant in the world, remarked Hussain Sultan Lootah, the senior VP Middle East and Africa at Borouge.

He was speaking on the sidelines of Arabplast 2013 at Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre in Dubai. Participating for the second successive year as a platinum sponsor in Arabplast, Borouge announced that it will open five more sales offices within the next 2 years including presence in Japan, Indonesia and Thailand.

Lootah said the company will expand its production capacity under the “Borouge 3” project to reach 4.5 million tonnes by the end of 2013. “This robust business growth represents broad customer recognition of our technology leadership and the value we create to their businesses.”

"Borouge had recorded annual sales of $3 billion in 2011 and by the end of next year, we expect a 700 per cent growth in production capacity," he added.

Borouge has more than 1,700 employees, including over 650 UAE Nationals, serving customers in over 50 countries.

Lootah said: “Our Marketing & Sales Company is based in Singapore and we have 10 sales offices in strategic locations including Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai, Beirut, Guangzhou, New Zealand and Australia, and sales agents in Egypt, Pakistan, Nepal, Iran, Taiwan, Thailand, Kenya, Korea, Bangladesh and Vietnam.”

On its international activities, Lootah said, “Our $60 million compounding manufacturing plant in Shanghai, which was completed in 2010, is providing compounded resins for the growing automotive and appliance industries in China with a total capacity of 50,000 t/y and a planned expansion to 90,000 t/y.”

Borouge also owns three logistics hubs in Shanghai (600,000 t/y), Guangzhou (246,000 t/y) and Singapore (330,000 t/y).

Hazeem Al Suwaidi, VP (Sales) Middle East, said, "Borouge is a global leader in providing innovative solutions for the wire and cable industry. With the Borouge 3 coming on stream in 2014 and the opening of Borouge Innovation Centre, we will continue to develop and produce high quality productivity solutions that enable cable makers to manufacture quality cables according to the highest industry standards while maximizing production output."

At Arabplast 2013, Borouge is demonstrating its wide range portfolio of innovative plastics solutions for infrastructure, automotive and advanced packaging.

Being one of the major sponsors of Arabplast in which plastics companies are aggressively competing to promote their products and technologies, Borouge is showcasing its latest PE and PP innovative solutions for a wide range of pipe, wire and cable, film, fibre and moulding applications in addition to highlighting its contribution in addressing major global challenges such as climate change, food protection, water, energy, communication and healthcare.

Borouge said its innovation centre will be operational in 2013 with over 50 international engineers and scientists focusing on developing new solutions with its customers. The total investment in the Innovation Centre has topped $70 million, it added.

Borouge will also establish a training centre alongside the Innovation Centre in Abu Dhabi for the Gulf Plastics Pipe Academy (GPPA) that was established by the company along major players in the industry.

Khalfan Al Muhairi, the VP, Marketing Centre, Pipe, said the company’s pipe grades are used in water and gas distribution, waste and sewerage disposal, chemical and industrial projects, irrigation systems, domestic plumbing and heating and cooling systems, as well as oil and gas exploration and transportation.”

“Setting standards in the industry, Borouge’s solutions add value through improved processing characteristics, lower maintenance, lower installation costs, longer product lifetimes, increased safety and no leakages,” he added.

A joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Austria based Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions, Borouge is a groundbreaking international partnership at the forefront of the next generation of plastics innovation.-TradeArabia News Service