Huntsman opens polyurethane system house in Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone

Huntsman has opened its new polyurethanes system house in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, to strengthen its downstream capabilities in the Middle East and North Africa.

The new polyurethanes system facility located within the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone (JAFZA) will increase the capacity of the US chemical manufacturing company to manufacture polyurethane systems and polyester polyols.

The PU systems house, which serves as the regional base for Huntsman’s Demilec spray polyurethane foam (SPF) business, will include a manufacturing area equipped with manufacturing equipment plus blenders, reactors, filling stations, control room, offices, and quality control laboratories.

It will produce polyurethane foams for construction, insulation, appliances, bedding and furniture industries.

Huntsman opens new polyurethane system house in Dubai. Image courtesy of alex_ugalek at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

The Huntsman facility polyurethanes system house in Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone will produce prepolymers for coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers applications as well as systems for the footwear applications.

Tony Hankins – president, Polyurethanes division, Huntsman, commenting on the new polyurethanes system house in Dubai, said: “This investment is the latest step in the expansion of our worldwide systems house capabilities, which underpin our downstream growth strategy.

“Constructing the new systems house at JAFZA brings us closer to our customers and gives us everything we need to expand our business in the Middle East and North Africa, including manufacturing competitiveness, infrastructure links and speed of response.”

Equipped with a spray foam application and training center, the new Huntsman PU systems house will offer local technical and training assistance to customers in the region.

Commenting on commenting on the new polyurethanes system house in Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone, Steen Weien Hansen – the company’s VP for Europe, Africa, Middle East and India, said: “With a fast-growing population that is 90% urbanized, the UAE is a big importer of polyurethane for use in construction and building projects and the production of consumer goods.”

Huntsman’s other downstream businesses in the Middle East include Huntsman EMA, a polyurethanes system house in Turkey; and Huntsman Arab Polyols Company, a joint venture with the BCI Group of Companies in Saudi Arabia.

Recently, Huntsman signed a deal to sell its chemical intermediates businesses, which includes PO/MTBE, and its surfactants businesses to Indorama Ventures, a Thai petrochemicals producer, for $2.076 billion.