Expansion in the Middle East and Asia

Through its joint-venture Borouge, with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the world's major oil companies, Borealis is expanding in the rapidly growing Asian and the Middle Eastern markets.

Borouge expansions

After the successful feasibility study conducted in 2008, Borouge decided to start the Borouge 3 expansion project in Ruwais, United Arab Emirates. Approximately 2.5 million tonnes per year of polyolefin capacity will be added mid 2014, boosting Borouge's total production capacity to 4.5 million tonnes per year. This will enable Borouge to meet the growing demand for value adding polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) in the Middle East and Asia. The addition of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) will also help Borouge expand its wire and cable infrastructure market. To support this growing production capacity and offer enhanced customer service, Borouge is expanding its sales and marketing efforts by establishing logistics hubs in Shanghai and Guangzhou in China.

Borouge's capacity  after the completion of the Borouge 2 project in mid 2010 is around 2 million tonnes of polyethyelen and polypropylene per year.  Construction of Borouge 2 began in late 2007 and included an ethane cracker of 1.5 million tonnes per year, an olefins conversion unit of 752,000 tonnes per year (the world's largest), two Borstar® PP units with a combined annual capacity of 800,000 tonnes per year, and a Borstar® PE unit with an annual capacity of 540,000 tonnes.

Growth in Asia

China is on track to become the largest polyolefins market in the world. To meet this growth, Borouge makes major investments in China signallying the company's long-term commitment ot the market. This includes a new 50,000 tonnes per year compound manufacturing plant as well as a logistics hub in China. In Guangzhou, Borouge is establishing a large-scale logistics hub and announced the construction of a second compounding plant until 2012. In Singapore, Borouge operates a logistics center.

Investment in innovation

In line with its commitment to delivering innovative, value creating plastics solutions to its customers, Borouge is building a new Innovation Centre in Abu Dhabi, scheduled for completion at the end of 2011.  In addition, the company announced that it will further invest in developing its innovation capability in China with the establishment of an Application Centre at its manufacturing plant in Shanghai.

Borouge employs around 1,600 employees worldwide.