Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge) has begun construction of its fifth polypropylene unit within  the company’s plant in the Ruwais region of the UAE capital.

Once the project comes on stream in the third quarter of 2021, it will boast a production capacity of 480,000 tonnes per year, said Borouge, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Borealis of Austria.

The new plant will help boost its polypropylene capacity by more than 25 per cent to 2.24 million tonnes per year and unlock new opportunities to boost the local economy, it added.

The main EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor of the project is Italy-based Maire Tecnimont Group, a leading player in the oil, gas, petrochemical, and chemical sectors. The top European engineering group has extensive experience in working with Borouge, going back to the first Borouge polyolefin complex (Borouge 1) which was completed in 2001.

It has also carried out two additional expansion projects, Borouge 2 and Borouge 3. The Italian group won the contract for the PP5 unit in July, said Borouge.