The $5 billion expansion project has developed the world’s largest ethane cracker with 1.5 million tonnes production capacity annually, next to Abu Dhabi’s Ruwais hydrocarbon complex, said Chief Operating Officer Roy Vardheim at the Middle East Petrochemicals 2010 Conference.
“We are actually, in the middle of start-up. We basically are starting up the ethane cracker and the polyethylene plant,” he said. Vardheim later told reporters that it will take between 12 to 18 months to ramp up production to full capacity.
“It takes time. It’s a very complex operation, [and] you need to ramp up slowly... so you start with easier grades and then you gradually transfer to the difficult grades,” he said.
“We are also starting the biggest olefins conversion unit [of] 750,000 tonnes, converting ethylene to propylene,” he added. Borouge will also start two polypropylene plants, which are part of the second phase expansion project, in the next few months, he said.
The expansion will bring the company’s total production capacity to two million tonnes per year, Vardheim said.
