Abu Dhabi Chemicals Integration Company (Tacaamol) has received bids from companies vying for the main plant package of its proposed aromatics chemicals complex in Ruwais, located 240 kilometres west of Abu Dhabi city.

Technical proposals for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract were submitted on 15 October, according to a source close to the bidding process.

South Korean groups GS Engineering & Construction and Samsung Engineering, and France’s Technip are thought to be among the companies bidding for the package. Commercial proposals are expected to be submitted at the beginning of 2015.

Tacaamol has also tendered the project’s offsites and utilities package, asking companies to submit technical bids by the end of November, sources say.

Tacaamol is a 51:49 per cent joint venture of state-owned Abu Dhabi National Chemicals Company (Chemaweyaat) and Singapore-based chemicals group Indorama formed in December 2013.

The complex will have the capacity to produce 1.4 million tonnes a year (t/y) of paraxylene and 500,000 t/y of benzene when it is completed towards the end of the decade.

The project will be located at the Madeenat Chemaweyaat al-Gharbia (MCAG) site – east of the existing Ruwais refining and petrochemicals facilities – along with supporting infrastructure including a dedicated export tank farm, jetty and loading births.

The long-delayed project first looked to be back on track in 2012 when Chemaweyaat appointed US-based Foster Wheeler as the project management consultant for the front-end engineering and design (feed) phase.

In September 2013, MEED revealed that the feed work for the project had been awarded to US engineering group CH2M Hill.

Chemaweyaat is a joint venture of state-owned groups International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic), Abu Dhabi Investment Council and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).