Borouge has awarded a contract worth $1.3 billion to consortium of Linde Engineering and CCC for the construction of a new ethylene cracker, which is considered the largest grassroots gas cracker in the world with a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum.

The ceremony took place in the presence of senior UAE government officials and the German chancellor Angela Merkel during her visit to Abu Dhabi.
The contract was signed by Abu Dhabi Polymers (Borouge) CEO Harri Bucht, Linde Group board member Dr Aldo Belloni and CCC vice president Farid Asfour.
The cracker is the first step in Borouge 2, the major expansion project being undertaken by Borouge at its production facility in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, which will triple annual production capacity to two million tonnes of polyolefins. The contract has been awarded on a lumpsum turnkey basis, with preliminary work already under way and completion scheduled in 41 months’ time in 2010.
“We are proud to be working closely with Borouge on what is a genuinely exciting project. Our partnership with Borouge will help bring to fruition one of the most forward-looking projects in the region today,” commented Belloni.
As well as the ethylene cracker, Borouge 2 will comprise the world’s biggest olefins conversion unit, producing 752 kilotonnes (kt) per annum and two Borstar polypropylene plants with a combined annual capacity of 800 kt, along with a new Borstar-enhanced polyethylene plant that will have an annual capacity of 540 kt to complement the existing 600 kt unit.