Dubai - MENA Herald: Borouge, a leading petrochemical company that provides innovative, value creating plastics solutions, reinforced its contribution to the development of the region’s plastics manufacturing and conversion industry at the 7th edition of the annual GPCA Plastic Conversion Conference (PlastiCon 2016). Organised by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) from 10-12 January 2016 at Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the conference is held under the theme ‘Evolving GCC Plastic Conversion | Technology Meets Business’.
Borouge’s value added plastics innovations have also been highlighted during the 2016 edition of the GPCA Plastics Excellence Awards ceremony that will take place on 11 January 2016 as part of the PlastiCon conference in which two of Borouge’s innovative polymers are shortlisted due to their superior properties that meet the market needs.
“PlastiCon is an ideal platform for the GPCA members to network and discuss recent trends in the development of plastics conversion industry across the GCC and the whole Middle East region as one of the significant industrial sectors that contribute to the diversification of economy,” said Rashed Saud Al Shamsi, Petrochemicals Director at ADNOC, Chairman of Borouge Pte Ltd, and Chairman of GPCA. “The region is moving into the next stage of development, focusing on growth, innovation, sustainability and value chain integration. This transformation will provide further opportunities to the downstream plastics conversion industries in the region.”
“Many exciting opportunities need to be explored in the conversion industry across this region, and together, the plastics producers and convertors should explore the benefits of proximity; leverage the growing polymer competence in the region; and partner to develop world-class, end-use applications to establish “Made in the GCC” as a global mark of quality.”
Abdulaziz Alhajri, CEO of Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge), highlighted Borouge’s continuous support to the GPCA conferences and activities for the past 10 years. Both Borouge and the GPCA are continuously and significantly contributing to the development of the plastics conversion industry by promoting it through leadership, advocacy and networking, he added.
“While our industry supports the region’s economic development goals, it also benefits the wider community through the sustainable and echo-friendly products and solutions that we bring to the market. Our industry is a key element in our governments’ efforts to diversify the regional economies by moving further downstream, and further up the hydrocarbon value chain. Demand for furthering plastics conversion industry is also driven by the ongoing developments in sectors such as automotive, aviation and renewable energy.”
“Borouge’s contribution to the capacity growth in plastic resins production was marked with starting-up the Borouge 3 plant in 2014. With this mega project we added 2.5 million tonnes of annual polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) capacity, bringing our total capacity to 4.5 million tonnes a year. In addition, our newly-inaugurated Innovation Centre in Abu Dhabi has become a cornerstone in delivering our mission in ‘Value Creation through Innovation’ through responding to the fast-growing demand for advanced, value-add plastics,” Alhajri added.
GPCA’s PlastiCon 2016 Conference also featured the newest edition of the GPCA Plastics Excellence Awards ceremony which aims to recognise outstanding initiatives in the plastics conversion, plastics engineering and product development by companies and individuals from the Arabian Gulf region.
Two of Borouge’s recent innovative polymers – BB2588 and RA140E - have been shortlisted and nominated to win a GPCA Plastics Excellence Award under the category of “Joint Development/Improvement of a New Product or Application — Resin Producer & Plastic Converter.” Borouge’s both polymers are highly recognised for their superior properties that benefit plastics converters.
Borouge has also sponsored three students from the Petroleum Institute (PI) to attend the PlastiCon event to encourage them to have a hands-on experience and enhance their knowledge about the new concepts and trends in the petrochemicals and plastics industries.
World class experts in the plastics manufacturing and conversion industries shared their knowledge about markets, polymers, latest conversion technologies and current issues including the production of resins from shale gas. Local plastics converters have also introduced the audience to their successful business stories.
