An artist’s impression of the park being created in Abu Dhabi

Recently launched Abu Dhabi Polymers Park, the first industrial cluster in the UAE dedicated exclusively to plastics conversion, says it has received good response from the industry both at the local and international levels.
“Our pre-launch marketing campaign has resulted in a strong request for almost 30 per cent of the park,” said Gustaf Akermark, senior advisor for petrochemicals at Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corporation (Adbic).
Abu Dhabi Polymers Park is a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corporation (Adbic), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Government’s General Holding Corporation.
Adbic has been marketing Polymers Park since late last year. It has been organising road shows and has seen strong interest from the industry – both in the region and in companies from the US, Europe, Japan and the Subcontinent.
Located at the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi (ICAD), Polymers Park encompasses 4.5 sq km of land and is expected to attract investments worth approximately Dh15 billion ($4.08 billion). It aims to attract between 50 and 60 plastic product manufacturers. The park is set to have conversion capacity of no less than one million tonnes per annum.
The companies will provide for downstream production and integrate with the mid- and up-stream players in the UAE and the GCC region.
“Regional polymer production capacity is expected to double to 33 million tonnes by 2011, and the park is uniquely placed to take advantage of the increase in raw material availability. It will host tenants that convert a wide variety of polymer resins into end products for the packaging, original equipment manufacturing, construction and infrastructure segments including value-added goods such as pipes, cables and intermediate blow-moulded containers,” said Jim White, CEO, Adbic.
Infrastructure work is currently on and is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. Initial tenants are expected to start their operations in mid-2009, and by 2015 the park is expected to reach its full capacity.
“Polymers Park is a specialised industrial zone that will create the region’s first polymer conversion cluster and is uniquely placed to serve downstream markets,” says Akermark.
It has ready access to secure regional sources of polymer supplies and is strategically situated in close proximity to the new Khalifa Industrial Port, a world-scale shipping and container port with estimated capacity of 2 million teu. The compelling export proposition is matched by a strong and growing regional demand for finished products in the construction, infrastructure, original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and packaging industries.
The Middle East market is expected to double polymer supply capacity in the next four years, providing access to competitively priced raw materials for plastic converters in the region. Market assessments have shown cost advantages and growing market demand for a range of products including high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene pipes, building and construction applications such as geotextiles, geomembranes and artificial grass, consumer and industrial packaging, and plastic car components. 
Through the cluster model, the park provides added value to tenants via shared services such as efficient shared logistics services and supply chain management, a technical centre for quality and innovation, and on-site warehousing facilities for raw material and finished products. Other advantages include competitive infrastructure, utilities, advantageous labour and raw material costs and a business park for commercial and office space well integrated in Polymers Park. Indeed, by 2010, polyolefins, meaning polyethylene and polypropylene, trade flows will predominately be coming from the ME and between 2007 and 2012 the ME will expect to see more than 15 million tonnes of new polymer capacity come on stream.
According to Akermark, Abu Dhabi Polymers Park will benefit from the access of raw material in the region and create an attractive industrial environment by providing specialised services to the plastics conversion industry. The value-added services will include a technical centre offering full training facilities, information services, certification and approvals at international standards, quality control and trouble-shooting support and also innovation and research and development.
The park will also offer logistics support which includes logistics service provider (LSP) owned and operated trucking services; leading logistics compounding operations; warehouse management focused on inventory management and value-added logistics services ensuring access to global markets.