DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2dccfa/united_arab_emirat) has announced the addition of the "United Arab Emirates Petrochemicals Report Q3 2011" report to their offering.
United Arab Emirates Petrochemicals Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, petrochemical associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on United Arab Emirates's petrochemicals industry.
Tied to oil prices, naphtha prices have risen at a steep rate, widening the differential with cheaper ethane feedstock used by regional peers Saudi Arabia and Qatar with which the UAE is competing for the Asian polymers market, according to BMI's latest UAE Petrochemicals Report. The situation has been mitigated somewhat by the lower margins for refineries producing naphtha, with the premium over crude narrowing due to rising global naphtha supplies.
The availability of naphtha in the UAE will be boosted by the refinery expansion at Ruwais, helping to retain the Emirati industry's competitive edge. The expansion will more than double the refinery's oil processing capacity to over 1mn b/d by 2014, from 774,000b/d in 2010. This will increase Abu Dhabi's naphtha surplus by 50%, half of which will be dedicated to the planned Chemaweyaat complex, which the emirate hopes will be the world's largest petrochemical complex.
Nevertheless, currently planned projects are likely to proceed over the next five years. Borouge is confident upstream supply will be sufficient for its expansion programme. Although BMI has in the past voiced concerns that Borouge 3 could be scaled back or scrapped altogether due to a lack of feedstock, Borouge's feasibility studies show that there is enough feedstock to supply the planned plants without having to rely on heavier feedstocks such as naphtha.
The second phase of the Borouge complex at Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, began production in mid-2010 with a 540,000tpa PE unit coming onstream in July. In Q410, an olefins conversion unit producing 752,000tpa propylene, together with 50,000tpa of propylene delivered from Adnoc's refinery, began supplying the two Borstar PP units with combined capacity of 800,000tpa. Borouge 2 will triple Borouge's polyolefins capacity to 2mn tpa when it becomes fully operational by mid-2011. An additional 2.5mn tpa is scheduled online in 2013, following the completion of Borouge 3. The new capacity will be marketed mainly to the Middle East and Asia Pacific, targeting high-end applications in the pipe and high performance packaging areas. Borouge 3 will have capacities of 1.43mn tpa PE and 960,000tpa PP supplied by a 1.5tpa ethane cracker, with US$4.6bn-worth of construction contracts signed in Q210.
Chemaweyaat will include an olefins plant, an aromatics complex and a range of downstream polymer and chemical units and was due to start production in 2015. The naphtha cracker will have capacity of 1.5mn tpa, but the exact details of the capacities of downstream units are unclear. It was due to be located in Khalifa Industrial Zone at Taweelah, but recent reports have suggested it will be moved to Ruwais. The uncertainties around the project could lead to a delay in completion beyond 2015. As such, we have not included it in our forecasts.
The UAE's main weakness is its dependence on commodity petrochemicals and a lack of high performance and speciality grades, which can add value to exports and put the industry in direct competition with producers in Japan and other more mature markets. Key to overcoming the problem of lack of diversification is the development of plastics conversion industries.
Companies Mentioned:
- Abu Dhabi Fertilizer Industries (Adfert)
- Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc)
- Abu Dhabi Polymers (Borouge)
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2dccfa/united_arab_emirat