New $1 bln Abu Dhabi facility to boost manufacturing

Shaheen Chem Investment LLC, owned by investors from the United Arab Emirates and Oman, will build a new chemical complex with an investment of 4 billion dirhams ($1.08 billion) in Abu Dhabi, the emirate’s industrial zone said.

Abu Dhabi is investing billions of dollars in industry, tourism and infrastructure as it diversifies its economy away from oil. Shaheen Chem Investment signed an agreement with the Khalifa Industrial Zone of Abu Dhabi (KIZAD) to lease land for the complex, Kizad said in a statement on Sunday.

The new facility will supply raw materials for some of the UAE’s major industrial firms including Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the statement said. The first phase of the plant is expected to produce 130,000 tonnes per year of caustic soda for EGA’s Al Taweelah alumina refinery and 160,000 tonnes per year of ethylene dichloride, it added.b Upon completion of the second phase, caustic soda production capacity will double and the plant will expand operations with vinyl chloride and polyvinyl chloride production, the statement said without giving any time frame.

The chemicals complex will be built over an area of 330,000 square metres of land in Kizad, in addition to a dedicated port terminal at the nearby Khalifa Port.

The zone has already attracted investors from China, Japan, India, Brazil and other countries since it opened in 2012. (RTRS)