The Abu Dhabi National Chemical Company, also known as Chemaweyaat, has acquired about 70 square kilometres of space for establishing a chemical industry city in the Al Gharbia Western Region of Abu Dhabi, Chemaweyaat’s Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Al Azdi has revealed.
The study plan for the project, also known as Madeenat Chemaweyaat Al Gharbia, has already commenced after recently being commissioned by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of UAE.
In an exclusive interview with Alrroya Aleqtissadiya newspaper, Al Azdi said the move is one of the initiatives by the Abu Dhabi government aimed at diversifying its revenue portfolio that currently relies heavily on oil and hydrocarbon products.
“The latest Madeenat Chemaweyaat Al Gharbia development runs concurrently with the beginning of main engineering works of our other flagship project, called Tacaamol,” the executive said.
Launched early this year, the $10 billion Tacaamol Complex is expected to be the world's largest integrated chemical complex and is anticipated to produce 7 million metric tonnes of chemicals annually when completed in 2015.
Borouge sees 100pct chemical output by 2013
The area where Madeenat Chemaweyaat Al Gharbia is located is also home to a number of other giant petrochemical industries, including
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) at Ruwais Industrial Complex, and adjacent to it is Abu Dhabi Polymers Company,
(Borouge). The Chemicals Industrial City is located in the Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone (KPIZ), also known as the Mina Zayed Port and is presently under development.
“The objective of
Chemaweyaat is to utilise the resources of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to enhance the development of the chemicals industry in the country,” Al Azdi said.
Chemaweyaat was created in November 2008 by the Emiri Decree and is governed by three state-owned shareholders, including
International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) with 40 per cent,
Abu Dhabi Investment Council (Adic) holding 40 per cent and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), 20 per cent.
Over the last 10 years, Abu Dhabi has witnessed tremendous developments in the manufacturing and production of industrial chemicals. This has been boosted by the ongoing projects managed by Borouge, through its initial phases at Borouge 1, 2 and 3. Borouge is aiming for 100 per cent increase in chemical production to 4.5 million tonnes by 2013, up from 450,000 tonnes in 2002.
“The projects carried out by chemical industries in the country have largely been successful due to the strong government support that we receive,” Al Azdi said, citing the recent board meeting that was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, where he promised unwavering support, “in order to achieve self sufficiency in chemical production while being guided by the clear vision and goals initially set.”
Tacaamol will focus on using crude-derived naphtha feedstock rather than ethane, which will free up the high-demand ethane, and its other unit additions will include a $1.5 billion ethylene line that will produce 1.45 million tonnes per year and 690,000 tonnes per year of propylene.
New project to utilise cutting edge technology
However, the latest Madeenat Chemaweyaat Al Gharbia project will be at the cutting edge of the industrial zones, Al Azdi said.
“It will be developed on several phases, and it will feature auxiliary services, water cooling and central evaporation systems, production tanks, exporting ports and research and development centres in addition to all facilities included in the modern international industrial zones,” the CEO added.
On concerns about sufficiency of raw materials (feedstock) produced by Adnoc for supplying the chemical complexes, Al Azdi said that Chemaweyaat would bridge the gap by using petroleum and gas substances as feedstock.
“These petroleum and gas substances are increasing, given the large number of expected projects in Abu Dhabi, in addition to the existing ones,” he added.
Al Azdi also revealed plans for training many students in the UAE, who would be expected to participate in the management of Madeenat Chemaweyaat Al Gharbia, especially in the technical fields and operational positions.
“Chemaweyaat is coordinating with various educational and training institutions in the UAE to prepare the graduates from universities and applied institutions for the various specialisation required for operational works, management, marketing and maintenance for development of the chemicals sector.
“We aim at having sufficient numbers of qualified and trained graduates, who have the developed expertise of the chemical industry, so as to deploy them as required during the phases of the planned projects,” he added.
Al Azdi also said the company would soon launch an education initiative dubbed
“Chemaweyaat eAcademy”, aimed at boosting and enhancing students’ knowledge in the fields of chemical products.
Concerns about the environment are high in Chemaweeyat’s agenda as it expands, and Al Azdi emphasises on the need to applying procedures that would ensure that development of new projects would have minimal negative effects on the environment.
“We are completely committed to establishing fully environment-friendly units and applying them in all industrial complexes,” he said.
Sustainability policy guide key in factories’ expansion
Al Azdi disclosed that the development of chemical industries while following the new sustainable policies required by Abu Dhabi government, “has made it easy for the new factories to establish and operate their facilities in full compliance while maintaining high sustainability standards.
“Chemaweyaat is one of the regional companies that signed the Global Sustainable Responsibility Agreement, and approved by the
Gulf Petrochemical and Chemical Association, based in Dubai,” he added.
Production of chemicals in the UAE was started by the
Ruwais Fertilizer Industries, also known as (Fertil), in early 1980.
Despite joining the chemical industry late compared to other cities in the region, Abu Dhabi has progressed steadily, which has seen the emirate emerge as a major player to acquire a significant share of Gulf chemical industry in the last ten years.
Saudi Arabia’s Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) entered the market in 1977,
Qatar’s Petrochemical Company (Qapco), in 1974 while Kuwait’s Equate was launched in early 1990.
Al Azdi does not consider as business competition the emergence of new companies in the region, but rather “a complementary of each other, as we seek to meet the increasing demands of chemical products in the region.”
“The more factories are being built, the more chemical raw materials will be produced,” he said.
Regarding the current challenges that industries are facing due to weak economic environment, Al Azdi said that factories have had to adjust operations in order to decreasing the operational costs while at the same time maximising profits.
“Most project developers have had to restrategise so as to increase the attractiveness of their investments and decrease the risk premiums in an attempt to reduce the general operational costs,” the executive said.
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