Borouge and Borealis celebrate five years of production in the UAE

Borouge and Borealis, the leading providers of innovative, value creating plastics solutions in the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Europe, today celebrated Borouge's fifth year of production. At a press conference held at ArabPlast 2007 in Dubai, the two companies highlighted Borouge's outstanding success to date and outlined its vision for the next five years and beyond.

Chief Executive Officer of the Borouge Production Company, Harri Bucht said that the five year production milestone at Borouge's plant in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi is an extraordinary success for a facility conceived so recently, and represents a major achievement for the polyolefins industry in the Middle East as a whole.

A total of around 2.3 million tonnes of polyethylene have been produced by Borouge, providing innovative solutions for customers in the infrastructure, automotive and advanced packaging sectors. To date, enough polyethylene for pipe applications has been made at Ruwais to stretch a typical 110 millimetre diameter water pipe six times round the world.

The Ruwais complex was the first bimodal polyethylene unit in the Middle East, beginning production December 2001 and exceeding design capacity within five months. ISO 9001 certification was achieved after just nine months and since then, Borouge has become a benchmark for operational excellence in the region. It has been at the forefront of adopting best practice in health, safety and environment, achieving ISO 14001 certification in December 2006.

The company also discussed 'Borouge 2', the multi-billion dollar expansion of its production facilities which will come on stream in 2010 and which commenced last month with the signing of an agreement with Linde Engineering to build a new ethylene cracker. This world-scale project will triple existing production capacity to two million tonnes per annum, including, for the first time, polypropylene. This increased output will open new markets for Borouge and is expected to make a strong contribution to the growth of downstream industries in Abu Dhabi and the wider region.

Harald Hammer, Chief Executive Officer of the Borouge Marketing Company commented: "Five years of production is a major achievement for Borouge. It underlines the extraordinary progress that has been made since our inception so recently. Our next phase of expansion will ensure we continue to make a difference to our customers and better serve our growing markets in the Middle East and Asia Pacific."

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