Borouge Plc announced today that more than 700,000 tonnes of polyolefins had been transported during its first year of operations with Etihad Rail, the developer and operator of the UAE National Rail Network.

Since September 2023, over 36,000 Borouge containers have been transported from a rail freight terminal in Al Ruwais Industrial City to Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi. Etihad Rail Freight, a subsidiary of Etihad Rail, has operated the service.

The rail route takes only four hours each way compared to 12 hours via other modes of transport, enabling Borouge to realise higher cost efficiencies and reduce carbon emissions.

The rail service, established through an agreement signed at the end of 2022 between Borouge and Etihad Rail, supports scalability and is more resilient to weather conditions such as fog than road transport.

Hazeem Sultan Al Suwaidi, CEO of Borouge, said, “Using the rail network to transport our products from the Al Ruwais Industrial City terminal has unlocked new opportunities for us, strengthening our focus on exporting our ‘Made in UAE’ solutions to meet growing customer demand, and enhanced the local supply chains.

The partnership has enabled Borouge to move larger volumes per trip at higher speeds via rail, increasing our competitive advantage. We are keen to diversify our logistical services to mitigate business risk, as shipping via rail uses more optimised transport networks.”

This partnership supports the national In-Country Value programme, with 88% of the value flowing back into the local economy, boosting economic diversification and growth.

This agreement comes on the back of a long-term partnership between Etihad Rail and Abu Dhabi National Company (ADNOC), which is the first company to use Etihad Rail’s services to transport granulated sulphur across the UAE and for export.

Shadi Malak, CEO of Etihad Rail, said, “We create solutions for our customers so they can deliver for theirs, enabling them to increase their competitiveness in the market as a result. We are committed to developing these services and solutions in line with the directives of our wise leadership, and under the supervision of H.H. Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Development and Fallen Heroes' Affairs and Chairman of Etihad Rail, and this has been reflected in our cooperation with many of our customers.

Customers like Borouge, are seeing the benefits that rail can have on their businesses; not only is rail transport reliable and cost effective, but we are able to better serve our customers with expedited transitions through ports to get products into the hands of their own customers in a more sustainable and efficient way. We look forward to continuing our impactful partnership with Borouge for years to come.”

The new rail freight terminal in Al Ruwais Industrial City spans over one million square metres and covers the full spectrum of container activity, including handling, loading, unloading, storage and maintenance, seamlessly complementing Borouge’s global reach and operations.

Borouge and Etihad Rail are now extending their partnership to transport products to other UAE ports, including the Port of Fujairah.

Serving customers in more than 80 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, Borourge provides differentiated and innovative polyolefin solutions for a range of industries, including infrastructure, energy, agriculture, mobility, healthcare and advanced packaging.

The partnership aligns with Etihad Rail Freight’s commitment to delivering logistics solutions to some of the country’s largest companies, enabling economical, efficient and sustainable transportation of goods transportation through the rail network, in line with the UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative.

The UAE National Rail Network aims to reduce CO2 emissions in the country’s road transport sector by 21% annually by 2050.