US chemical producer Huntsman (Salt Lake City, Utah; www.huntsman.com) has opened a PU systems house in Dubai / United Arab Emirates – see Plasteurope.com of 06.06.2018 – boosting its capabilities in the Middle East and North Africa and increasing capacity to supply customers across the region. Located within the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone (JAFZA), the facility will manufacture PU foams for construction, insulation, appliances, bedding and furniture uses as well as systems for the footwear industry and prepolymers for coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers applications.

The site will also serve as the regional base for Huntsman’s Demilec spray PU foam business and includes a dedicated spray foam application and training centre.

Steen Weien Hansen, Huntsman’s VP for Europe, Africa, Middle East and India, said that with a fast-growing population that is 90% urbanised, the United Arab Emirates is a big importer of PU for use in construction and building projects and the production of consumer goods. “With the much-awaited ‘Expo 2020 Dubai’ just a year away, the booming construction sector will increase the import of polyurethane in the market directly contributing to the growth of Huntsman’s business in the UAE.”

The US producer’s other downstream businesses in the Middle East include Huntsman EMA (Istanbul / Turkey; www.ema.gen.tr), a systems house, and Huntsman Arab Polyols (Dammam / Saudi Arabia) – a joint venture with the BCI Group in which Huntsman is the majority shareholder.