Borouge 4 in the UAE Adds 100,000 Tons of XLPE Capacity, Enters Commercialization

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 11, Borouge Group International announced that the new cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) unit at the Borouge 4 project in Ruwais, UAE, has completed performance testing and delivered its first batch of products to regional customers, marking the project's transition from trial production and performance validation to commercial ramp-up. The new unit has a designed annual capacity of 100,000 tons, which will double Borouge's annual XLPE production capacity in the Middle East and Asia.

The XLPE produced by the new unit is mainly used for insulation materials in medium- and high-voltage underground and submarine power cables. The first batch of products was jointly validated by Borouge and UAE cable manufacturer Ducab. Ducab used materials from the new unit to manufacture medium- and high-voltage cables and conducted tests in accordance with international standards. After completing performance testing, Borouge has begun to increase the unit's load to expand the supply of materials for power grids, electrification projects, and data center-related power infrastructure.

The XLPE unit is one of the first facilities in Borouge 4 to be put into production. Borouge's 2025 annual report shows that the XLPE 2 unit entered commissioning at the end of 2025; in the first quarter of 2026, management disclosed that the unit began production in early April. In May, the company announced that the first batch of products would be delivered to customers after completing performance testing in that quarter; the official delivery of this first batch of materials marks the completion of the earlier commissioning, production, and customer validation stages.

Borouge 4 as a whole is located in Ruwais Industrial City, and the project will add 1.4 million tons per year of polyolefin capacity. In addition to the 100,000 tons per year XLPE unit, the project also includes two polyethylene production units, a 1-hexene unit, as well as utilities, tank farms, roads, and interface works with existing Borouge production facilities. The XLPE unit corresponds to the fifth EPC contract package of Borouge 4, with a designed capacity of 100,000 tons per year.

The remaining units of Borouge 4 will be put into production successively from 2026 to 2027. After the project fully ramps up, the polyolefin capacity of the Ruwais site will increase by 1.4 million tons per year, making it one of the largest single-site polyolefin complexes in the world. Borouge has obtained the operating and product marketing rights for Borouge 4 through an asset usage agreement. After the project fully ramps up, it is expected to contribute cumulative net profit of up to approximately US$400 million to Borouge Plc over three years.

Borouge previously disclosed that during the construction of Borouge 4, it awarded approximately US$600 million in procurement orders to local UAE companies. After the new XLPE unit is commercialized, its materials will continue to be supplied to the medium- and high-voltage cable manufacturing markets in the Middle East and Asia.