Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge) will not ask for a final set of bids for the three remaining construction contracts on the third-phase expansion of its Ruwais plastics production complex until May, sources close to the project tell MEED.

Contractors had expected the company to ask them to submit commercial bids outlining cost structures for two of the contracts, to build the main polyolefins unit and the supporting offsites and utilities, in April (MEED 15:3:10).

However, talks between the client and bidding firms over the technical details of the project are yet to be completed, and executives working on proposals do not expect to be asked for prices until May.

An invitation for final bids on a low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit is still scheduled for May, meanwhile.

“We are still in the middle of technical discussions, and I doubt that they will ask for prices until the first week or two of May,” says a source at one bidding firm. “It could be June before some of the bids go in.”

Technical bids for the polyolefins plant, which will convert the basic chemicals ethylene and propylene into the plastics polyethylene and polypropylene, went in on 14 February, while engineering proposals for the specialist plastics LDPE unit went in on 28 February and bids for the offsites and utilities were submitted on 15 March (MEED 28:2:10).

The contracts are part of Borouge’s plans for a third-phase expansion of its Ruwais complex, known as Borouge 3. The company will produce 4.5 million tonnes a year (t/y) of plastics at Ruwais when the scheme is complete in early 2014.