A multibillion-dirham project to diversify Abu Dhabi’s economy reached an important milestone yesterday with the signing of a deal to build a chemicals plant in the Western Region.
Chemaweyaat, the Abu Dhabi chemicals joint venture, announced the project in conjunction with Indorama Ventures, a Bangkok-based manufacturer of the raw material for polyester.
While the value of the new plant was not given, this marks the beginning of what Abu Dhabi hopes will be billions of dollars of investment at a chemicals “city” spanning 70 square kilometres near Ruwais.
The plant would be Chemaweyaat’s first plant, and Indorama is Chemaweyatt’s first foreign partner.
In 2008, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc), International Petroleum Investment Co (Ipic) and Abu Dhabi Investment Council founded Chemaweyaat in an effort to broaden the emirate’s downstream resources industry.
The plant is to be part of Madinat Chemaweyaat (Chemicals City), a 70 square kilometre site east of Ruwais. Abu Dhabi Chemicals Integration Company (Tacaamol), the name of the Thai-Emirati joint venture, is to produce 1.4 million tonnes a year of paraxylene, which can be used to make fibres or plastic bottles, and 500,000 tonnes of benzene.
Chemaweyaat did not respond to queries about the project’s budget.
“The teams of both parties have worked hard to reach this stage and we look forward to their continued spirit of cooperation during project implementation and the establishment of future operations,” said Ahmed Al Mheiri, the chief executive of Chemaweyaat, which will hold a 51 per cent stake in the plant.
“We are very excited about this venture with Chemaweyaat, which represents our maiden entry in the Gulf region,” said Aloke Lohia, the chief executive of Indorama Ventures.
“Both parties which contribute their expertise and resources, optimising the benefits that Abu Dhabi offers to create a world-class aromatics chain industry that will result in sustainable economic and social development.”
Planning for Madinat Chemaweyaat dates to 2009, when Khadem Al Qubaisi, the managing director of Ipic, said investment there could eventually exceed US$20 billion (Dh73.46bn) and that it would be the biggest chemicals complex in the world.
The idea of creating a central complex with infrastructure, feedstock and benefits to attract foreign investors was also behind Polymers Park, a plastics conversion complex in Mussaffah launched by Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corp in the same year as Chemaweyaat.
Designed to host as many as 70 companies, Polymers Park has faced difficulties expanding beyond a handful of tenants because of the small size of the local consumer market.
Abu Dhabi and other Arabian Gulf players also face competition with North America, where ample supplies of cheap shale feedstock have sparked an industrial revival, and Asia, a hub for the auto, white goods, and other factories that use such chemicals.
In 2010, Chemaweyaat scrapped plans to build a separate complex in Taweelah at Khalifa Port and Kizad, deciding instead to move the dozen joint ventures it hopes to create to Madinat Chemaweyaat.
There, plants would be closer to feedstock produced by Takreer, Adnoc’s refining company, which is on track to finish a $10bn expansion to double production by February.
The chemicals development is designed to use naphtha, an oil-based feedstock that Arabian Gulf producers are increasingly turning to as gas supplies get squeezed.
A front-end engineering contract for site preparation and infrastructure was awarded this summer, said Chemaweyaat, which previously hired Foster Wheeler and Halcrow for the project planning.
Shares of Indorama on the Thai stock exchange dropped more than 5 per cent yesterday to 20.10 baht yesterday.
This week the company also announced that it had refinanced a $640 million loan and a separate $360m working capital facility for its US business.
ayee@thenational.ae
Match info
Manchester United 1 (Van de Beek 80') Crystal Palace 3 (Townsend 7', Zaha pen 74' & 85')
Man of the match Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
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Baby Driver
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Lily James
Three and a half stars
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
The Intruder
Director: Deon Taylor
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good
One star
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday Celta Vigo v Villarreal (midnight kick-off UAE)
Saturday Sevilla v Real Sociedad (4pm), Atletico Madrid v Athletic Bilbao (7.15pm), Granada v Barcelona (9.30pm), Osasuna v Real Madrid (midnight)
Sunday Levante v Eibar (4pm), Cadiz v Alaves (7.15pm), Elche v Getafe (9.30pm), Real Valladolid v Valencia (midnight)
Monday Huesca v Real Betis (midnight)
