Shaheen joins Ta'ziz and Reliance to build $2 billion Ruwais chemicals project

Abu Dhabi Chemicals Derivatives Company, known as Ta’ziz, has announced the entry of the first private UAE company as a strategic partner in its US $2 billion joint venture with India's Reliance Industries to build an Chlor-Alkali, Ethylene Dichloride (EDC) and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Shaheen Chem Holdings Investment LLC (Shaheen), will join the proposed Ta’ziz and Reliance Industries Limited joint venture at the Ta’ziz Industrial Chemicals Zone, the company said in a statement on Thursday. The facilities, the company said, will be built in al Ruwais area.

The partnership with Shaheen brings its extensive knowledge of the local market and joins the project with a focus on utilising production for use in local supply chains, the company said.

The agreement follows the investment agreements between Ta’ziz and eight UAE-based investors in December 2021, which marked the first domestic Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Abu Dhabi’s downstream and petrochemicals sector.

“We are delighted to welcome Shaheen as a strategic partner in Ta’ziz. This strategic agreement further consolidates Ta’ziz's position as the sought-after partner for local and international investment in the UAE’s chemicals industry,” Khaleefa Yousef Al Mheiri, Ta’ziz Acting Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement.

“The partnership supports our national strategy to drive the growth and diversification of the country’s industrial base, strengthen domestic supply chains and enable the private sector to ‘Make it in the Emirates’,” he said.

Ta’ziz project is a joint venture between ADNOC and ADQ at an investment of more than $2 billion and will supply local manufacturers, replacing chemicals currently imported, while also exporting to meet growing demand for these chemicals globally.

The companies said that chemicals produced by the project are slated to have a wide range of industrial applications and will create opportunities for exportation, as well as provide local industry with a source of critical raw materials manufactured in the UAE for the first time.