“Borouge is well-placed to capitalise on several global megatrends such as expanding populations, food waste and scarcity, water access and sanitation, circular economies and energy transition.”

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What are the recent milestones and developments over the last year at Borouge?

Borouge produced a resilient set of financial results in 2023, reporting a net profit of US$1 billion. Our targeted Value Enhancement Programme also delivered US$607 million in positive impact to our EBITDA through various revenue and cost optimisation initiatives in the face of challenging global market conditions for the polyolefins industry.

Central to our growth plans is the Borouge 4 plant. We are making excellent progress on the project, which will make us the world’s largest single-site polyolefin complex when it is completed in 2025, and increase our annual production capacity by 28% to 6.4 million t/y.

We have also opened new offices in South Korea and Kenya, expanding our global footprint to 14 international key markets.

On the Circular Economy front, we are expanding our portfolio of recycled products, leveraging partnerships with local recycling companies, testing feasibility on high-quality recyclates for various applications, and investing in opportunities that will allow Borouge to produce value-added solutions for the industry. For example, Borouge signed memorandums of understanding (MOU) in December 2023 to partner with two Chinese companies in a year-long study on improving waste management on a national level and reducing municipal solid waste.

What areas of application/verticals provide the best growth opportunities for Borouge’s differentiated products?

Borouge is well-placed to capitalise on several global megatrends such as expanding populations, food waste and scarcity, water access and sanitation, circular economies and energy transition.

Borouge’s high-value energy and infrastructure solutions accounted for 45% of our total sales volume in the first quarter of 2024. Our innovative pipe solutions, such as our PE100RC and PP-R product portfolio, help to ensure durability of pipe networks across the globe, delivering clean and safe content for a long time.

In the energy sector, our differentiated wire and cable solutions help our customers eliminate wastage, which allows them to transport energy from renewable sources over a longer distance more efficiently. Borouge is continuously developing its suite of electrification solutions ranging from lithium-ion battery applications to high-density polyethylene for solar system components. Borouge has a meaningful role to play in providing the materials needed to build renewable and clean energy infrastructure. 

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Can you share more about Borouge’s latest sustainability initiatives?

We are helping customers achieve their sustainability goals. This includes working with brand owners to develop value-add solutions with recycling content; design packaging for recyclability by standardizing and simplifying packaging structures to mono-material structures; and instilling the importance of circular economy through various education and corporate social responsibility programmes. One such educational programme is Polymers on The Move, which aims to help students understand the circular economy and discover the importance of plastics and proper waste management.

We are also increasing investments that encourage the reduction of carbon footprint. Borouge strives for sustainable mobility by innovating to enhance EV’s energy efficiency, such as using light weight polypropylene solutions that will reduce the EV’s weight, thereby prolonging battery mileage. We collaborate with OEMs and China’s EV car brands to deliver tangible benefits to the industry, drivers, passengers and the environment. In 2023, we launched our first mobility compounds that incorporate post-consumer recycled content, which can achieve up to 32% reduction in carbon footprint compared to virgin grades.

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What are Borouge’s strategic priorities for 2024?

Our circular economy business is a priority, which continues to complement our virgin resin business and provide innovative recycled resin solutions to fulfill our customer needs. Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) is always on top of our agenda, and we have various campaigns to sustain our best-in-class industry standards in safety records.

On people, we are focused on nurturing Borouge’s talented, diverse, and dedicated workforce.

On profitable growth, our Borouge 4 project is under construction with over 60% milestone completion. We are also working on a new expansion project – our second ethylene unit (EU2), to enhance the production of olefin and polyolefin by 230,000 t/y upon the project’s completion in 2028. Together with Borouge 4, this will boost Borouge’s polyolefin production capacity to approximately 6.5 million t/y.

To support these priorities, we are investing in our people, innovation and technologies. This includes areas such as artificial intelligence and digitalisation, which are integral drivers of innovation, efficiency, and value creation across Borouge's operations. Looking ahead, I am confident that Borouge is well positioned for our next phase of growth.

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